City schools would need to add 17K teachers to meet class size law

At a cost of at least $1.6 billion

In order to comply with the new state class size law, the city public school system would need to hire 17,700 teachers, a recent analysis from the city Independent Budget Office found.

The law, which was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul last September, will set minimum class sizes of 20 students for kindergarten through third grade classes, 23 students for fourth through eighth grade classes, and 25 students for ninth through 12th grades. Currently, elementary school classrooms have a cap of 32 students, while middle school and high school classes can have a maximum of 33 and 34 students, respectively, according to the city’s contract with the United Federation of Teachers.