Dear New Yorker,
Earlier this month the New York City Council released its response to the Mayor's Fiscal Year 2014 Preliminary Budget.
Having largely avoided deep cuts to critical programs during the recession, the City is now in a good position to construct a budget and financial plan that truly reflects the mix of programs and services that New Yorkers most value and rely on, especially when it comes to education.
This year's budget proposal builds on the prudence and foresight exercised by the City Council and the Administration during the boom years and includes recommendations on several key issues important to our city's students and families, including:
- Teacher Attrition – The State Budget's education aid restorations must be used first and foremost to prevent the loss of over 1,500 teachers. The most important resource of all for educating our children is teachers and other school-based staff. The hiring freeze currently in effect at the NYC Department of Education (DOE) should be lifted immediately for teachers, school-aides, and other school-based staff.
- PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) – The City Council has long been concerned about the presence of PCB-containing fluorescent lights in city schools. In addition to holding several hearings on the matter, we also passed two community-right-to-know laws (Local Laws 68 and 69 of 2011) to help make sure parents and teachers are better informed about PCB results and cleanup efforts at their schools. We also provided $30 million in capital funding for Fiscal Years 2012-2014 to help speed up the removal process.
This year the City Council approved the addition of $93 million for lighting replacement in schools to accelerate the removal of PCB lighting this year and next. The additional $123 million in funds will enable the DOE to complete lighting replacement in more than 80 additional schools.
The DOE and the School Construction Authority (SCA) must continue to work urgently to remove toxic PCB lighting fixtures from city schools.
- Overcrowding – Although the City Council, the DOE and SCA have worked successfully over the years to add more than 55,000 seats to the City's school system, there are still too many overcrowded classrooms in our city's schools. Students and their families shouldn't have to wait any longer for additional relief, especially with such severe and persistent overcrowding still impacting many of our communities. Funding for additional space and seats must be prioritized in the upcoming Five-Year Plan.
- School Lunch Fee – The City Council is glad that the Administration agreed to delay implementing an increase in school lunch fees from $1.50 to $2.50 per meal. This increase would have negatively impacted thousands of low- and middle-income families across the five boroughs. The implementation of this fee must be withdrawn from the FY 2014 executive budget in favor of an approach that phases in increases more incrementally.
- After-School Programming – After successfully restoring nearly $100 million in additional funding for child care last year, including $38 million in baseline increases, the City Council urges the Administration to fully restore and baseline funding for after-school programming. Funding for the City's three largest such programs – Out-of-School Time (OST), Beacon and Cornerstone, which collectively serve nearly 150,000 youth citywide – should not be cut.
We look forward to receiving the Mayor's Executive Budget and to working with him, the Administration, and with you and other New Yorkers to adopt a budget in June that reflects our shared values and collective optimism for the future of our city.
Additional information about this year's budget process, including a copy of our response to the Mayor's preliminary budget, can be found on the City Council's website at www.council.nyc.gov.
Thanks and hope all is well!
Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
NYC Council
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.
Chair, Finance Committee
NYC Council
Robert Jackson
Chair, Education Committee
NYC Council
Lewis Fidler
Chair, Youth Services Committee
NYC Council