Thousands of new NYC teachers set to begin amid class size hiring push

Thousands of new teachers filed into Brooklyn’s Barclays Center for orientation Tuesday as part of what New York City officials hope will be a historically large hiring class.

In a typical year, the nation’s largest school district faces the daunting challenge of hiring between 4,000 and 5,000 new educators to replace the ones who left. This year, officials aim to hire 3,700 on top of that to satisfy the state’s class size reduction law. Some 750 schools received additional money from the city for the coming year to hire extra teachers to bring more classes under the state caps, which range from 20 to 25 students depending on age...

https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/08/26/nyc-teacher-hiring-spree-for-class-size-law/

Two weeks after Israel fully reopened schools, a COVID-19 outbreak sweeping through classrooms..

After Reopening Schools, Israel Orders Them To Shut If COVID-19 Cases Are Discovered

...Schools first began to reopen in early May, with classes staggered in smaller groups or "capsules" of students to prevent a wide outbreak. By May 17, limitations on class size were lifted.

The most significant outbreak appeared last week in the Gymnasia Rehavia, a historic middle and high school in Jerusalem. There, 116 students and 14 teachers were infected, according to the Ministry of Education, and the school closed. Built in 1928, its graduates include prominent novelists, politicians and Netanyahu's late brother.

Health officials said they're investigating how the virus spread there. A teacher told NPR a seventh-grader was first discovered to be carrying the virus and the entire grade was ordered to quarantine at home. Then a ninth-grader tested positive, and the school was shut down.

"It was a mistake to go back to school in this format," the teacher said... 

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/03/868507524/israel-orders-schools-to-close-when-covid-19-cases-are-discovered

A New Northwood with the Same Problems

Over the course of the next six years, Montgomery County will fund an expansion project for Northwood High School to increase the building's student capacity from 1,500 to 2,700 seats. According to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) projections, the project will be completed in 2024, two years after the school is expected to exceed its population capacity. This reflects a broader trend of overpopulation prevalent throughout MCPS. Walter Johnson, Poolesville, Gaithersburg, Kennedy and Montgomery Blair High School are also estimated to surpass their current student capacity limit within the next decade.

The population of Montgomery County has been steadily increasing ever since 2008 and the implications of this expand beyond tangible problems such as space and building size. While the number of students in MCPS has increased, the rate of new teachers hired has not risen proportionally. This has resulted in the average class size increasing by 7.49 students from the 2017-2018 school year to present day . Blair junior Yenny Jiron reflects on how class size has affected her education. "Teachers are overwhelmed with students so there is a lack of one on one time. I find myself hating even days because in my eighth period there are around 40 students. The class is exhausting," Jiron described.

Studies have shown that larger class sizes have an effect on the quality of education students are receiving. Research by the 2015 Public Policy Department at Berkeley University revealed that the average student in a small classroom (15-20 students) has a reading and math score nearly nine percent higher than a student in a medium-sized class (20-26 students)...

https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/content/a-new-northwood-with-the-same-problems-31758/

Montgomery Co. officials seek answers on school class size

ROCKVIILLE, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools received millions of dollars to help cut class sizes in an effort to improve student performance and narrow the achievement gap. But not every school has seen the number of students in classrooms reduced — and officials say that’s by design.
“Some classrooms don’t need a reduction,” said Jack Smith, Montgomery County’s superintendent of schools. “Some need a reduction, but we did that with a para-educator and not with another teacher.”...

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/10/montgomery-co-officials-seek-answers-on-school-class-size/

3PM Today: MCPS Ended with $31.4 Million Surplus

Today at 3 PM, the Montgomery County Council's Education Commitee will discuss MCPS' surplus of $31.4 million and the MCPS request to move around $4.2 million.

MCPS wants to move $4 million from Instructional Salaries to pay off a deficit in the Group Insurance Fund.  This translates to less money for teacher salaries (new or raises) due to the funding of benefits for existing teachers.

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2016/160919/20160919_ED1-2.pdf

TODAY: Public School Education $$$$ Being Spent in Ocean City, MD #party #nobidVendors #openbar #dinners #oceanview

The Montgomery County Board of Education spends over $60,000 a year on dues and fees for their membership in the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE).  On top of those dues and fees, the Board of Education uses MCPS Operating Budget dollars to attend a MABE annual vacation in Ocean City, Maryland.   That includes registration fees, hotel, meals, travel and perks.

Taxpayers fund this trip, what do we get out of it? Board members come home with no bid contracts from the vendors that they meet off site and out of public view.  Not only does this event divert public school education dollars from classrooms, but taxpayers get zapped with no bid contracts that are obtained without public oversight.  All we get are pictures of the cocktail parties, dinners and trips. 

September 30, 2015 – October 2, 2015

Conferences & Retreats

3 Days

Annual Conference

Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel 10100 Coastal Hwy. Ocean City, MD 21842

   2015 Conference Brochure Website1 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

   2015 Exhibitor Prospectus Complete by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

   2015 Conf Brochure Insert by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

How MABE Introduces No Bid Vendors to Boards of Education and Local School Systems .@MABE_News

MABE is the Maryland Association of Boards of Education.

MABE is a taxpayer funded private club for Board of Education members across the State of Maryland.  Taxpayers fund the club and get absolutely no information on how funds are used.  The funds paid to MABE each year are Maintenance of Effort public school education dollars.

In Montgomery County, our Board of Education spent over $70,000 on MABE last year.  That's about one less teacher for our classrooms. Apparently, this private club is more important to our Board of Education than teachers.

But, the $1.2 million +/- that MABE gets in dues and fees from Boards of Education is not enough to keep this private club going.  MABE's president, Frances H. Glendening, apparently needs more than what taxpayers fork over for this club.  So MABE has "partnered" with vendors looking for their own slice of the education pie (scroll down the right side of the MABE home page to see the partners).  MABE allows these vendors to have exclusive, behind closed doors access to Board of Education members all over the state.  Some of those vendors end up getting no bid contracts with public school systems. 

Below is an example of where a MABE "partner" was able to hold court with Baltimore County Public School administrators.  The vendor was able to make a presentation and then use that presentation on their website.  Even more outrageous, the vendor was able to get an endorsement from a Baltimore County Public School administrator to use on the website.

Members of the Maryland Coalition to Halt Cell Towers at Schools discovered this endorsement and were concerned that this was a violation of the Baltimore County Public Schools ethics policy.  Inquiries were made.  The web page was immediately taken down.  If Coalition members had not spotted the endorsement of this MABE "partner" by a public school administrator it could have remained on the vendor's website indefinitely.   

If anyone can find out why MABE thinks that vendor "partners" should have exclusive access to public school Board of Education members, please let us know.  Our inquiries to MABE president Glendening have gone unanswered.

January 2015 screenshot of now removed webpage.

This January 2015 tweet is still showing up on Twitter.

Starr not aware of large classes

...County lawmakers questioned whether decreasing classroom size in the coming year is the right choice. Class sizes vary depending on grade and type of class, but several council members cited reports of classrooms of 40 students or more......Superintendent Joshua Starr said he was not aware of any classrooms that large. Classroom size wasn't on the top of the school board's list of priorities, he said...

Examiner:  MontCo lawmakers criticize schools for using surplus on pay, not classes

Blair HS: "Our average class size right now is 34 students"

Silver Chips Online:  Board of Education holds hearings on proposed 2012 budget

Montgomery County community members weigh in on the recommended budget for the school system in 2012

...Tom Jacobson, Blair's Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) President, ended the second meeting by discussing Blair's needs for the upcoming school year, especially the regulation of class sizes. "Our average class size right now is 34 students," he said...