By Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Associate Editor
MANHATTAN — A coalition of parents, teachers and student advocacy groups have sued the city's Department of Education, claiming they violated state law by misusing state funds earmarked to shrink class sizes.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, charges the DOE with misappropriating more than $760 million it received since 2007 for the purpose of shrinking class sizes in city schools.
The lawsuit claims the DOE instead allowed class sizes to swell, by cramming a steadily-increasing number of public school students into city classrooms even as overall enrollment numbers shrank.
"New York City promised in writing that it would use specific funds to reduce class size. It then turned around and ignored its promise, saying that school principals who supposedly work for the DOE simply decided to spend the money on other things — among them, to replace funds lost to city budget cuts. The result has been that class sizes have actually increased over 2007 in every grade," United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said in a statement.
"Three-quarters or a billion dollars later, tens of thousands of New York City students are packed into classes that are higher than anywhere else in the state. Who is managing — or should I say mismanaging — this process?"
The city’s Department of Education released a statement saying the charges were "without merit."
The lawsuit was filed by the United Federation of Teachers, Class Size Matters, NAACP, Hispanic Federation, and parent leaders.