New York City is set to hire thousands of teachers across its five boroughs, with Staten Island schools expecting to welcome over 250 new educators as part of these efforts.
This initiative is part of Mayor Eric Adams’ Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget aimed at reducing class sizes in compliance with a state law that mandates limits on class sizes.
In 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a significant piece of legislation that established specific class size limits citywide, with full implementation of the law scheduled to roll out by 2028.
Classes for kindergarten through third grade will be capped at 20 students, while classes for grades four through eight will have a limit of 23 students, and high school classes will be capped at 25.
The new hires come as the city aims to meet compliance with this law, with approximately 3,700 teachers expected to be recruited for around 750 schools for the 2025-2026 school year.
According to the Class Size Plan data, Staten Island’s District 31 will see the hiring of 257 teachers by September, supporting the overall goal of improving classroom environments across the borough.
Schools on Staten Island had the opportunity to create individual class size reduction plans through a framework set up by the city’s education department last fall.
These plans were developed at the school level and involved collaboration with school leadership teams. Subsequently, these plans were reviewed collectively by the city’s Department of Education, the United Federation of Teachers, and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.
The Class Size Plan data indicates that 47 schools in Staten Island, encompassing elementary, middle, and high schools, have budget allocations to hire additional teachers.
A closer review of the data reveals the specific hiring allocations for teachers at various Staten Island schools set for the 2025-2026 school year.
For instance, elementary schools including PS 1 in Tottenville will hire seven teachers, PS 3 in Pleasant Plains will add four, and PS 26 in Travis will be boosted with a significant twelve new hires.
Middle schools are also set to benefit, with Egbert Intermediate School (I.S. 2) in Midland Beach planning to hire eight teachers, while Police Officer Rocco Laurie Intermediate School (I.S. 72) in New Springville will add seven teachers.
High schools are included in these hiring plans as well; Tottenville High School in Huguenot is expected to hire 16 new teachers, while Susan E. Wagner High School in Sea View looks to add 14.
The move to hire more teachers comes amid growing pressures for New York City’s classrooms to meet class size caps. As of November 15, 2024, only 46.5% of classes across the city were compliant with the mandated size limits, according to the Department of Education’s annual class size report.
Currently, 40% of classrooms are required to adhere to these caps, with the Department of Education anticipating that an additional 20% of classrooms each year would also meet these requirements by the time all are compliant by 2028.
This ambitious initiative is crucial for Staten Island, which, according to the report, has one of the lowest percentages of compliant classes. As of the 2024-2025 school year, only about 31% of K-12 classrooms in the borough meet the established limits, a slight increase from 24% in the previous academic year.
The educational landscape in Staten Island is poised for notable changes as these additional teachers are hired, allowing schools to better manage class sizes and enhance the learning experience for students.
Staten Island’s schools are now facing a pivotal moment to improve educational standards through these significant changes, fostering better classroom environments and ultimately contributing to better student outcomes for the future.
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