New York City’s public school system is paying unionized principals and assistant principals to bring more classrooms into compliance with the class size law.
Principals in eligible schools will receive $500 this school year for each additional compliant class, up to a maximum of $10,000, according to a memo obtained by the Daily News. For assistant principals, it’s $250 per class, up to $5,000 and subject to school-wide limits.
Those dollar amounts increase the following school year to $570 and $11,400 for principals, and $285 and $5,700 for assistant principals, the memo said.
It’s the latest way New York’s class size law is becoming even more expensive than its proponents intended, and reducing the savings Mayor Mamdani expected to realize by delaying the mandate.
“We’re pleased to share that a major part of this year’s plan is the creation of a new Supervisory Programming Differential for eligible school leaders covering the 2026–27 and 2027–28 school years,” read the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators’ update to unionized members.
“The differential provides additional compensation to principals and assistant principals in eligible schools that make additional progress toward class size compliance beyond their established projection or baseline.”
“Since the inception of the class size law, we have argued that if the city asks school leaders to take on the difficult work of reorganizing programs, staffing, and scheduling to meet the class size mandate, that work and responsibility must be acknowledged,” the memo continued.
The memo said assistant principals who are teaching classes exempted from the law — due to a shortage of space or licensed teachers — will also receive the extra pay. Eligible administrators will receive $850 this school year per class each term, up to $8,500. Those dollar figures jump next school year to $950 and $9,500.
School officials previously reached a deal with the United Federation of Teachers in June that provides educators in classrooms that are not in compliance with the class size law with a bonus for more work.
“Since the class size law first passed, our school leaders have fully supported its goals and worked diligently to implement the city’s plans for the benefit of all students,” CSA President Henry Rubio said in a statement Friday. “We thank the Mayor and Chancellor for recognizing the leadership necessary to successfully lower class sizes across our entire system.”
Spokespeople for the New York City public schools did not immediately return a request for comment.
The 2022 state class size law imposed new caps on the city’s classrooms of no more than 20 to 25 students per classroom, depending on their grade level.
During the most recent state legislative session, Gov. Hochul and the Legislature, at Mamdani’s request, agreed to extend the timeline to fully implement the law. This school year, 70% of non-exempt classrooms must be in compliance. The full implementation of the law is due by the 2029-30 school year.
At the time of the delay, Mamdani said he expected to save $500 million, helping to make headway on a historic New York City financial deficit.
It was not immediately clear how much the CSA-represented principal bonuses will cost because the price tag is based on class size data to be reported later this fall.
If all eligible UFT-represented teachers receive the maximum bonus of $8,500, the city’s Independent Budget Office recently estimated the extra pay could cost an additional $21 million in the first year.