When lawmakers forced New York City last year to reduce public school class sizes, many parents celebrated a long-awaited victory. At New York’s high schools, classrooms would shrink to 25 students over the next several years, down from 34, coming close to class sizes in some suburban districts. But what would typically be a major selling point for a school system has transformed into an emerging battle. A growing number of families who want their children to attend the city’s most selective institutions, including its coveted crown jewels like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, worry their odds could decrease at popular schools with packed classes and little extra space. The anxieties reflect perennial fights over elite school admissions, one of the most fraught issues in New York’s school system, the nation’s largest.

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Organizations: New, New York City, Bronx Science Locations: New York, Stuyvesant, New