Taxpayers in New York City might find themselves footing the bill for as much as $21 million in bonuses for thousands of teachers. This financial commitment stems from a recent agreement aimed at loosening restrictions on public school class sizes, as highlighted in a new analysis unveiled on Tuesday.
The influential teachers’ union successfully secured salary increases, promising up to $8,500 in the upcoming school year starting in September, and rising to $9,500 the following year. These bonuses are intended for educators working in schools that are exempt from the new class size regulations.
This arrangement serves as a compromise with the United Federation of Teachers, who agreed to modify the contentious 2022 state law. This amendment grants Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his Department of Education an additional two years to comply with the class size limitations.
The New York City Independent Budget Office, in its latest report, predicts that at least 2,463 teachers will qualify for these bonuses in the next school year.
Should all eligible educators receive the full $8,500 bonus, the Independent Budget Office estimates that the financial impact on the city’s Department of Education could reach $21 million during the 2026-27 academic year.
However, the IBO has expressed uncertainty about whether the Department of Education’s budget will need supplementary funding to accommodate these bonuses.
The report noted the bonuses could cost less if some of them are lower than $8,500, if enrollment declines, if fewer teachers are eligible or if principals maneuver to redistribute students to comply with the caps.
The number of eligible classes was calculated by the IBO using the list of schools that have received exemptions to the size caps this year.
Under the state’s original law, 80% of city public school classrooms by next year were required to have no more than 20-25 students, depending on the grade level.
Absent waivers, all classrooms were to abide by those caps by the following 2027-28 school year — 20 students for K-3rd grade, 23 for grades 4 to 8 and 25 for high schools.
But the new timeline gives the DOE until the 2029-30 school year to be in full compliance, which the city said would save it roughly $500 million.
Under the agreement involving Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, Mamdani and the UFT, the city will need to reach 70% compliance by the upcoming 2026-27 school year, 80% by 2027-28 and 90% by 2028-29.
To address a projected $5 billion shortfall and difficulty in meeting the class size reduction targets, Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels requested a delay to give the DOE more time to comply.
Albany approved the two-year extension to the class size reduction edict last week, although it was not included in the state budget.
“This law requires class size reductions, a mandate the State imposed without providing any fiscal supports,” IBO said.
The bonuses for teachers in classrooms exempt for exceeding the cap were not included in the amended law, but negotiated separately by City Hall and the UFT.
The IBO analysis suggested the teacher bonuses were the price the city agreed to pay to win to delay full implementation of lower class sizes.
“Meeting the original timeframe would have required New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) to hire 3,000 teachers this summer—a requirement that would have posed massive operational challenges, in addition to the obvious financial burden,” IBO said.
UFT president Michael Mulgrew said the “differential pay” was a stick — an incentive — to hold city’s feet to the fire to lower class sizes.
“New York City has to keep pushing to make the class size law a reality across the city,” Mulgrew said Tuesday.
“The differential is one way to hold the city accountable for building the space and hiring the staff needed to bring smaller classes to all students.”
