Smaller Class Size, Now - An Open Letter to UFT President Michael Mulgrew and UFT leadership

Esteemed:

I am excited about the prospect of our union finally pushing smaller class sizes in a more meaningful way. 

While I believe we may see some gains out of the City Council bill, we admittedly know it’s tenuous at best as shared by leadership, today.

There are also very serious and valid questions in regards to its enforcement. The specter of an entirely new city council and mayor leaves us a very small window, also, in my opinion. Even this mayor has made no commitments to smaller class size. 

We need teeth on this one. Once and for all.

I am asking we all support the following resolution I hope to share at our next delegate assembly. This issue is too iffy in the hands of bureaucrats when not ironclad, as we have seen with the circles CFE litigation put us in for over 20 years.

I’d also add that we already see the city violate other square footage requirements presently with little to no consequence.

We need a full-court press. If we care about this enough, we must fight for it in every single way available to us, legislatively on a state and city level, contractually, in our future collective bargaining, and in rallying our school communities.

Find the resolution attached.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dEuZULUL4rRUkBWGP1iGgydYvvwAVFhW/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116794091680782465221&rtpof=true&sd=true

Please support.

This matters to our children, families, educators, and school communities.

In solidarity,

Daniel Alicea - Special Education teacher/ Delegate, Middle School 53