Dear New Yorker,
This past week, the New York City Council released its response to the Mayor's Preliminary Budget proposal. In our response, we opposed many of the decisions made in the Mayor's preliminary budget that propose severe cuts to important programs and services for New Yorkers. In light of recent events, we believe that we have reached a point where further cuts in critical services endanger not only the progress we have made in many areas over the course of many years, but also the welfare and safety of New York City residents.
Such cuts would impact education in particular, as the Mayor's plan projected more than 4,000 layoffs of public school teachers. Additionally, principals who followed the Central Administration's guidance and managed their school budgets carefully will now be penalized for having done so with a 30% "tax" on their saved funds. These are severe cuts to classroom spending that could certainly have a negative impact on the education of our city's children.
Last week, our Education Committee held a hearing where we questioned the Chancellor-designate Dennis Walcott about the proposed budget. After considering his responses and the Administration's proposal, we believe that the Department of Education can make a more serious effort to bring all of its costs under control before it cuts classroom spending. Our suggested proposals include:
- A call to investigate the overall $10.2 billion dollars in contract spending throughout the city budget, and to reduce this spending in order to preserve jobs (particularly teaching jobs).
- A recommendation to prioritize preserving funding that goes directly to classrooms, rather than to other personal services.
- A recommendation to prioritize capital spending that increases capacity and classroom seats.
The full budget response can be found here:
http://council.nyc.gov/html/budget/PDFs/2012/budget_response_fy_2012.pdf
We encourage you to reach out to your local Council Member for more information about the budget and what you can do to advocate for children and families. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact Regina Poreda Ryan in the Council's Finance Division, at 212-788-9043, or rryan@council.nyc.gov .
Please know that we are committed to ensuring that the City passes a budget that truly places children first.
Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
NYC Council
Robert Jackson
Chair, Education Committee
NYC Council
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.
Chair, Finance Committee
NYC Council