For Immediate Release

Final city budget contains no classroom cuts

Jun 30, 2008 1:26 PM

After months of intense lobbying by the Keep the Promises Coalition, the New York City Council and the Bloomberg administration agreed on June 26 on a $59.1 billion city budget that protects public schools from budget cuts that had been sought by the mayor and Chancellor Joel Klein because of concerns about a downturn in the economy.

UFT President Randi Weingarten responded to the news with the following statement:

Chris Quinn and the entire City Council deserve a big thank you from all New Yorkers for championing children and working so hard with the Mayor to negotiate an agreement that protects all of our public schools from budget cuts. Facing tough economic times and hard choices, they listened (as did the Mayor) to their constituents and the Keep the Promises coalition, which worked tirelessly for months to ensure that children would be insulated from the pain of our current economic downturn. All of our city elected officials, as well as the Governor and the State Legislature, should be applauded for showing great vision in making the needs of children a top priority.