NYC council grills DOE on class size, special education costs and early-childhood rollout in FY27 hearing

New York City'9s Department of Education told Council members on March 1 that the Mayor'9s fiscal 2027 preliminary budget increases resources for classrooms, early childhood and special education even as council members pressed officials to explain gaps in space and staffing needed to meet a state class-size mandate.

Chancellor Kamari Samuels opened testimony by saying the administration'9s priorities are student safety, academic rigor, early childhood and expanded access to culturally responsive instruction. Indigenous in testimony was a pledge to combine capital projects and operational measures to move the city toward compliance with the state'9s class-size law.

Council members asked repeatedly how many seats must be added and how fast. DOE and the School Construction Authority (SCA) said 33,417 seats are funded in the current five-year capital plan amendment, with roughly 14,318 seats cited in projects so far and additional interior conversions and annexes under study. SCA President Nina Kabota warned that building new schools or additions typically takes multiple years from design to opening, and both agencies said they'9re pursuing faster, lower-cost options such as room conversions and targeted annexes in the districts with the greatest need.

Special education and legal costs dominated a long portion of the hearing. City education lawyers and special-education leaders described an eight- to ten-year rise in due-process filings they trace to earlier settlement practices, changes to state rules and a surge in privately-placed tuition cases. Chief legal officer Liz Vladic told members that average Carter tuition cases can exceed $100,000 a year and that autism-related cases now represent a large share of costs; DOE said it is moving to address fraud, reduce inappropriate IESP filings and accelerate case timelines via OATH to limit future growth.

Council members also pressed DOE on the plan for early childhood expansion — including the administration'9s 2K pilot and 3K growth — asking for clearer roll-out schedules and procurement details. Deputy chancellors said the city is using existing, permitted provider sites and RFIs to get seats open faster this fall where possible and that a new Early Childhood Management System and better provider payments are planned to reduce delays.

Contracting and procurement drew heavy questioning. DOE procurement officials said roughly 94% of recent actions were competitive but acknowledged that a small percentage of contracts remain noncompetitive (sole-source listings for specific educational software and early-childhood negotiated services were cited). Committee members demanded lists of no-bid or sole-source contracts and greater transparency on high-value consulting and technology agreements.

Mental-health supports, restorative justice and paraprofessional pay also drew sustained attention. Deputy chancellors reported investments in a mental-health continuum that supports about 50 high-need schools and roughly 20,000 students in program parts, and called for ongoing dollars to sustain those services. Council members and union leaders urged higher paraprofessional pay and greater hiring to fill thousands of vacancies that affect special-education supports.

Pupil transportation and student passes were raised late in the hearing. Students and civic groups asked the Council to expand student OMNI benefits and to improve communication about card deactivations; DOE said it is piloting a student-card tracking app and working with the MTA and schools on workflow improvements.

On capital, the SCA presented its FY25'29 amendment, describing $20.97 billion in proposed capital work to create seats, remove temporary classroom units, increase accessibility and electrify buildings. The plan includes nearly $800 million for accessibility work and $1.4 billion for electrification, along with targeted cafeteria and athletic-space investments. SCA said it will continue to prioritize equity and smaller projects that open seats quickly, while warning that large new-build capacity will require time to design, fund and construct.

What'9s next: Council members pressed for specific listings of where the funded seats will be sited, how many seats can realistically open by 2029 and clearer procurement lists for noncompetitive contracts. SCA and DOE pledged follow-ups, including detailed district-by-district seat projections, lists of no-bid contracts and a public view of construction status for member-funded projects.

Voices at the hearing included Chancellor Kamari Samuels, SCA President Nina Kabota and procurement and legal leaders from DOE. Students, unions and community groups also testified, urging the council to baseline funding for mental-health programs, restorative justice, immigrant-family outreach, early-childhood access and afterschool providers.

The council and agencies agreed on the scale of the challenge: meeting the state'9s class-size mandate requires combining new seats with operational and policy fixes, and will take sustained funding and coordination between city capital planning, DOE operations and the City Council.

A follow-up: DOE and SCA committed to provide district-level seat lists, updated timelines for seat openings and documentation on procurement practices in the weeks ahead.

(Reporting from the March 1 DOE budget hearing; agencies have promised detailed follow-up data.)