New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos on Wednesday said the city plans to hire over 3,700 teachers across the public school system to reduce class sizes.
The move, which will affect about 750 schools, is part of the city's Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget and was determined by a joint review of hundreds of schools’ proposed plans by New York City Public Schools, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, according to a press release.
The hiring of additional teachers will help the city be in compliance with the class size law for the 2025-2026 school year, officials said.
“A reduced class size is one of the best ways to help our students learn and for young people to thrive, and today, we are taking yet another step toward making New York City the best place on the globe to raise a family,” said Adams at a press conference that was also attended by students from P.S. 88 in Ridgewood, Queens.
Schools had the choice to submit individual class size reduction plans, first announced in the fall of 2024, for the 2025-2026 school year. Plans were developed at the school level, in consultation with school leadership teams. The announcement was made now to allow additional time and support for principals to hire teachers for the 2025-2026 school year, officials said.
“Today’s announcement is a demonstration of genuine collaboration with our union partners and represents a commitment to listening to our schools,” said Aviles-Ramos. “We are so proud to be making this new investment in our schools, supporting 750 of them to lower their class sizes for their students, all done in a way that’s driven by our school leaders and school communities.”
You must be signed in to comment. Please sign in or register.