Thank goodness this got shot down.  These smaller class size initiatives are so misguided!  They cost a LOT of money, require rapid hiring of tons of new teachers (gee, I wonder what the quality of those teachers would be?) and there's ZERO evidence that it improves student achievement.  (For more discussion of this, see the chapter on "The Class Size Myth" in Jay Greene's book, Education Myths.)

Proposal on Class Sizes Ruled Off Ballot

By SUSAN SAULNY

May 22, 2006

The size of classes in the city's public schools should not be an issue put on the ballot in November, a judge ruled on Friday in State Supreme Court. In upholding a decision by the city's corporation counsel, Justice Lewis Bart Stone found that the city's voters lacked the power under state law to force Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to allocate money to reducing the size of classes. A group known as New Yorkers for Smaller Classes had challenged the city's decision and started a campaign to build public support for smaller class sizes. The group said it would appeal the latest ruling. The mayor has supported reducing class sizes, but he said last July, "You can't run the schools through ballot initiatives."