Arthur Goldstein teaches ESL at Frances Lewis High School in Queens, New York City.
His school was built to hold 2,400 students. It enrolls nearly 4,700 right now.
“How bad is it? Last week I counted 101 oversized classes. That’s better than the 268 I counted the first day, but hardly ideal. Ideal, and also mandated by union contract, by the way, is zero overcrowded classes. Every single teacher, as well as basic arithmetic, will tell you that the fewer students there are, the more attention individual teachers can give individual students.
“With new students walking in each and every day, and enrolling in the school, I’m not ready to celebrate just yet. The whole process fills me with something not remotely resembling optimism. I’ve counted classes of over 40 students. The city already has the highest class sizes in the state. Thirty-four, becoming the standard rather than the exception these days, is tough. Over 40 borders on impossible for a mere human, and is no help whatsoever for struggling students.”
“We have two rooms that are converted closets. They have no windows. Inside are indoor air conditioners and HEPA filters designed to make them more bearable. In practice, the A/C units are so loud that they preclude instruction. Some teachers turn them off whenever conversation takes place. Via inertia, they tend to remain off all the time. On sweltering days they must border on torture chambers…
“Just before we made our agreement with the city, when we were approaching the enrollment we now have, a reporter asked me what the breaking point was. I told her I didn’t know, but I never wanted to find out. Our agreement with the DOE enabled us to help make the number of students more closely suit the space in our building. A few years ago we had closer to 4,200 students with a goal of 3500.
“I’m a lowly teacher, and I saw this coming. It’s time for the important folks at Tweed to stop twiddling their thumbs and start earning their hefty salaries. Maybe their offices would be better used as classrooms. Or maybe they could rent space for us in one of the Marriotts.
“In fact, I’m told the city has a plan to reduce our enrollment by 100 students a year, beginning next year. That’s fine, but it’s too little too late. I don’t want to begrudge a single student a single place in a single school, but I also don’t want to find out what our breaking point is. I still don’t know what it is, and I still don’t want to know, but it doesn’t feel far off. If the city doesn’t want to know either, they’ll find us alternate space right now. Waiting is the worst idea and not an option.”
This isn’t right.
Charter schools are not crowded.
Why the crowding in public schools?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
Charter schools aren’t overcrowded because they can force students out and not be required to replace them. They also control their enrollment numbers by employing a lottery system limiting the number of students.
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Clearly the solution is to co-locate a charter school in your school (for free, of course), so that you’ll have even less space and then you’ll appreciate what you had.
/s
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That’s not sarcasm; it’s a likely outcome.
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Got that right, Michael.
And drext727 is correct. Charter schools can pick and choose their students, and force out or expel or “counsel out” kids who are more challenging to teach.
And then these kids go back to their now under- resourced public schools, which are required to take them, and when those schools do not “score” as well on the idiot standardized tests, then that is used as an excuse to close them down and open more charter schools, which also do not have to take every kid.
And so the cycle goes on and on and on.
And I’m getting beyond sick and tired of this.
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Sounds familiar: we haven’t begun this year with as many overcrowded classes as in years past, but we’ve had a few. Most classes contain the limit–34 (!)–students, which, while contractually acceptable, is in no other way acceptable. How about starving some charter schools and giving those of us in public schools smaller classes?
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But then businesspeople couldn’t get their hands on the, to quote Peter Greene, “Sweet, sweet, tax money.”
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Like conservative Scott of Florida, Cuomo, a neoliberal Democrat, does not care much about public education which he has labeled a “monopoly.” Cuomo has ignored a fair funding lawsuit and continues to reluctantly serve public education. As Mark Weber pointed out, an investment in market based education leads to a disinvestment in public schools. This is a national issue as more than half the states continue to spend less on public education than they did before 2008. The goal is to starve public schools to hasten their demise so the profiteers can have a hefty payday. Nobody can control Cuomo’s alliance with the hedge funds, but when it comes time to vote, New Yorkers should not vote for conservatives or neoliberals. I am sorry that there is not a better response from those in charge as teachers are left stranded in overcrowded classrooms by their state representatives and a sleeping union.
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There is no law that says students must be “in” the school. Get into the community. Connect with businesses to see if they can accomodate students. Then rotate students between businesses and schools. Meanwhile do projects related to that business. This would include public facilities like a zoo for science units a farm for agriculture, a sports facility for fitness specialty and then build all academics into those projects.
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Also utilize educational assistants as part of a team
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I hope you’re not being serious, because there are a LOT of problems with that idea.
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Clearly this teacher represents a government school that is flush with cash.
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I hope this is snark, because if it’s not, then you’re a jerk.
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Not the first time I’ve been misinterpreted on here…but maybe the most surprising.
Yes, as a public school teacher, I’m hyper-aware of the false propaganda that comes from our public officials with regards to education policy. I know there are some hit-and-run anti-public education trolls who occasionally pop in here, but I don’t think even the most strident Ed Reformer would use this situation as an example of schools as monopolies.
So, to clarify, I am mocking our president’s words from his Inaugural address. In the past I have often done the same with words from Secretary Duncan, President George W. Bush, Governor Cuomo, Secretary DeVos, Bill Gates and others. I probably will again in the future.
The most alarming thing to me about your reply is that you think there are people out there who would post the above in seriousness…and you may be right.
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I apologize, Ohio Algebra II Teacher, I misinterpreted your snark.
And yes, sadly, there are people who would post stuff like that in all seriousness.
Not so much on this blog, although we have our share of them, unfortunately.
But there are plenty of commenters on other blogs, supposedly blogs on the liberal side of politics, who seem to think that Arne Duncan, Cuomo, the Gates Foundation, etc, have the “answer” for improving education, and that answer includes inappropriate testing, punitive measures for schools and teachers, and opening more and more charter schools, which somehow, never seem to be subjected to the same standards as public schools.
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All good, Zorba. On the same team!
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That made me laugh. Thank you for that.
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I’ll tell you what my district is doing for the overcrowding of our schools and to get rid of redistricting HS until a new school can be built and opened in 5 years. Our county is going to have a JumpStart program so that Jrs and Srs can take classes at the local community college and have dual enrollment. I would guess that this has been the plan all along for our HSers since the county was warned years ago that they should start finding land to be purchased for a new HS. It’s expensive to build a HS and the amount of land is hard to come by in districts that favor developers over families. It’s a sin to push children into adulthood before they are ready.
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Somebody can correct me about the school that 1/3 of my elementary school went to 50 years ago when it had 2400 students, I went to a new John Bowne in the first full graduating class. .
Isn’t the reason the school is as crowded as it is, because as a non specialty HS it is one of the best in the city . A bungalow in Fresh Meadows sells for 600,000 cash, so that it can be knocked down and converted to a McMansion on a 60×40 plot. So like many long Island districts outside the city , the real estate is tied to the reputation of the school district . In addition to the fact that it has several city wide competitive admissions programs. The bad news is that its success is also due to its demographics.
Time to take the 18th Green from the park across the street and build an annex.Perhaps it is time for Eva to pay some rent to help fund it. But the other thing as the slightly dated Times article points out . John Bowne HS is under populated and since that article Jamaica HS has closed down . The demographics in the surrounding neighborhoods have changed but the economic status if anything has gone up, not that it was ever low.
The reason I am afraid, that what used to be(but is no longer) Francis Jewish HS is overcrowded. Has everything to do with segregation and real estate. My guess , the reason Jamaica HS has closed , was so that the students in very wealthy Jamaica Estates.(Trump lived in a smaller Tudor.) , those that were not going to elite private or religious schools, would be able to attend Lewis . These are political decisions not educational decisions.
UGH.
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Everyone wants to go there because it’s a good school. Make another nearby HS great and the problem is solved.
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