It's the Brian Laird Show on WNYC.

I'm Kusha Navidar filling in for Brian today.

New limits on class size are coming to New York City's public schools.

That's thanks to a state law from 2022 that's been championed by parents and teachers for years.

Smaller classes mean teachers will have more time for each student.

But actually implementing the policy comes with growing pains and potential school closures.

Plus, let's not forget, it's really expensive.

Here to break down what's in store for the city's public schools is Jessica Gould,

education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist.

Jessica, thanks for joining us.

Happy to be here. So how big are public school classes right now And how would the new limits change them?

So it's a range because this is already being phased in.

But let me, I have my numbers here in front of me.

So before the class size limit, first through sixth grade was as much as 32 students per class and high school was 34.

And classes now have to be between 20 to 25 students

depending on grade. So the younger years are 20 and closer to 20 and then it goes up to 25 for high

school. So it's a big difference. Yeah. You know, I was a high school math teacher as my first

career out of college. And my class sizes,

it wasn't in New York City. It was in Miami. But my class sizes were around 34 and a drop down to 20 to 25.

I remember thinking like, okay, I can breathe. I can focus more effectively on students.

When you talk to teachers, what are their vibes? What are the kinds of responses you're hearing

about their desire to decrease the class sizes? You know, I have yet to meet a teacher who says they

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