Chair Lee on class size exemption differentials

Okay, thank you, thank you.

Class size.

Our understanding is that the timeline extension includes a deal with the UFT, which will provide differential payments of up to $8,500 per teachers for those whose classes receive approved space or hard staff exemptions.

Can you provide more details on the deal?

Yeah, so let's specifically speak to what this is, right?

So, yes, there was an adjustment.

And, for example, in September, the goal is now to get to at least 70%.

And now there's a two-year extension to the law.

And so the process of exemptions now includes differentials specifically as they relate to any exemption that we have that gets us to 70.

So it's not as though you're going to give everyone an exemption who is teaching in a class that is out of compliance.

It is only in the event that you need that exemption to get to 70%.

That is when the differential applies.

And so I want to turn it over to Aaron to add anything else in terms of details.

Yeah, I think the only thing we would add is we're working to develop guidance on the approach to implementation, and then we'll share more details when we can.

So there are currently four exemption types for class size.

However, only two have been identified for differentials.

Are teachers in schools defined as over-enrolled in economic distress or special classes also included in the policy?

Well, in terms of determining the exemptions, that's when we would apply the, we would prioritize students in schools with a high economic need, right?

So the way it works is, first you have to

decide on, and we do this collaboratively with our partners, which classes will be, which exemptions you're going to use.

And then when you apply the exemptions, you apply them prioritizing our students who are in an economic need and so on.

And then you get to apply the differential after that.

And we do have space exemptions.

We have

several other types of exemptions.

Yeah, and so we have the space exemption and the over-enrolled exemption, which we had agreement with the unions and was published in our plan in FY26.

The differential is applying to the space and hard to staff, which is the third.

The economic distress exemption is something we haven't utilized and I think is more applicable not to the individual schools, but to the system at large, as we have discussed it.

But again, the three that we have and are talking about are the space, the hard to staff, and the over-enrolled.

And this is an exemption of up to $8,500.

So what's going to determine how much the differential is actually for?

The differential, if you're teaching, for example, for the entire year, you would get to 8,500 if you teach, let's say, in a class for half of that year.

And then as you reprogram and it's different, you would get half of the differential.

And I think this is where we need to look a little bit more deeply and go into the data.

And I think conceptually we're looking at it applying to the over-enrolled classes that the teacher is teaching or the classes above the statutory caps that the teacher is teaching.

So at a high school level, it could be, say, two out of the five.

And then there's a pro, we would do pro-rating at that point.