WASHINGTON, Oct. 5,   President Clinton today released a report by the Council of the Great City Schools that shows more than 4,100 new teachers have been hired in the nation's big-city school systems as a result of the federal Class-Size Reduction Program.

The report, Reducing Class Size: A Smart Way to Improve America's Urban Schools, noted that 32 urban school districts responding to a national survey received more than $242 million in federal class-size funds for the 2000-200l school year, with the bulk of the funds going toward hiring new teachers.

"The federal Class-Size Reduction Program is doing what it is intended to do," says Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council, a coalition of the nation's largest urban public school systems. "It is lowering class sizes in the early grades to boost student achievement."

Based on preliminary data, the Council report indicates that the program has contributed to student achievement gains in such cities as Philadelphia and Fort Worth, Tex.

Some 77 percent of the federal class-size reduction funds, or $187 million, is being spent this year by the 32 school systems on salaries and benefits for new teachers, primarily in grades first through third.

The federal funds are also supporting teacher professional development, with 15 percent of dollars devoted to this purpose, followed by 4.2 percent for recruiting expenses, and 3 percent for administration, says the report. 

Urban school districts spent their federal class-size reduction funds in 2000-2001 in approximately the same way they did in the first year of the program, despite the additional flexibility authorized by Congress.

A noticeable exception is that the urban school systems spent somewhat more on teacher recruitment activities in the second year than in the first.