Oct 3, 2008 8:00 pm US/Eastern
Parents: NYC School Overcrowding A 'Crisis'
Department Of Education Says It's Working On The Problem, But Many Say They're Not Working Hard Enough
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
According to parents, overcrowding in New York City public schools is at a crisis level.
Now, with the city about to release its plan for a solution, they're demanding real change.
PS 199 on the Upper West Side is so popular, more and more families are moving to the neighborhood so their kids can attend the school.
"Now it's just very, very overcrowded, and frankly I don't know how this school can hold more children," parent Julie Mallin said.
The school was built to accommodate 476 students, but it has nearly 200 more than that. Parents told CBS 2 HD there are fifth grade classes with more than 30 students and one teacher.
The maximum class size for that grade is supposed to be 23.
"It's a tragedy and something has to be done. We cannot continue to grow like this," parent Michelle Lipkin said.
At City Hall on Friday parents, children and politicians rallied for a "better capital plan," which spells out how much money will be spent to build new schools and improve existing ones. They want more money and more space for schools.
At a City Council hearing inside, the deputy schools chancellor pointed to their success at dealing with the problem.
"We have reduced class size at all grades in every year of this administration," Kathleen Grimm said.
The Department of Education said it has cut overcrowding in schools by more than 10 percent since 2003, but Leonie Haimson, who heads the parent group "Class Size Matters," said the results of a recent survey of school principals says it all.
"Eighty-six percent said they were unable to provide class sizes that would give quality education to our kids," Haimson said.
The city will release its proposed five-year capital plan next month, but the City Council won't vote on it until June of next year.
So the fight over school overcrowding will be going on for months.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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