For Immediate Release

Klein warns of massive layoffs without federal stimulus funds

Jan 28, 2009 5:59 PM

New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said in testimony before a legislative committee in Albany on Jan. 28 that without assistance from a federal economic stimulus package, the city would be forced to lay off as many as 15,000 public school educators.

UFT President Randi Weingarten responded with the following statement:

A layoff of 15,000 educators in the New York City public school system would be devastating to both our students and the people who work so hard to provide them with a quality education. This is why everyone who cares about public education should urge their elected representatives in Washington, Albany and City Hall to fight first for the federal economic stimulus and recovery program and then for a state and city budget that would avert such layoffs.

The first major step was taken today by the House of Representatives in passing its version, and we applaud them for that. It is imperative that we get such help in order to continue the academic improvements and momentum we have achieved. That means we can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of the fiscal crisis of the Seventies when education budgets were cut so severely that it took the school system decades to recover.

Fax your legislators and tell them to quickly pass the stimulus package.