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Topics in the News:
budget
Our political work and lobbying in Albany have paid off: Governor Cuomo and the state Legislature reached a budget agreement on April 2 that is the best we have had for our schools in a decade.
The final state budget, which was reached on March 28, adds nearly $1 billion for schools and increases the minimum wage to $9 an hour over three years. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, "I want to thank the governor and the legislature for doing the right thing for our students by increasing education funding across the state by nearly $1 billion."
In a decision that could change how Texas funds its schools, a state judge ruled on Feb. 4 that the current funding mechanism fails to ensure the education system is fair, efficient and providing a “general diffusion of knowledge,” as required by the Texas Constitution.
A judge has temporarily blocked the state from withholding approximately $250 million in school aid from New York City as a penalty for the city’s failure to reach agreement with the UFT on a new teacher evaluation system by the Jan. 17 deadline.
In testimony before state lawmakers on Jan. 29, UFT President Michael Mulgrew praised the governor’s proposed executive budget, which features a 4.4 percent increase in education spending next year.
Mayor Bloomberg on Jan. 29 spelled out the consequences of his failure to negotiate a new evaluation system for teachers with the union: heavy cuts to the city education budget.
The UFT asked Albany lawmakers for support at the union’s annual legislative reception that kicks off its budget advocacy in Albany. “It’s that simple,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said to the more than 65 lawmakers. “We need, and deserve, support. Not accusations and drama and lies.”
Gov. Cuomo proposed a 4.4 percent increase in education spending next year, part of an overall state budget increase of 1.9 percent that signals the beginning of cautiously better fiscal times for the state and the city.
State Education Commissioner John King read New York City the riot act a day after the city missed the deadline for concluding a new teacher evaluation system. Laying the blame squarely on the mayor and the Department of Education, King said the city’s failure would result in the immediate loss of $240 million in state education aid and put hundreds of millions of other state and federal dollars at risk.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew testified before the New York State Senate and Assembly Joint Committees On Education and Finance.
It has been six years since the UFT and other education advocates in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity coalition won a landmark court victory that declared the state was underfunding New York City’s public schools. But today many city schools in poor districts are still lacking sorely needed funds and basic resources.
No children will lose their day care or afterschool services, and Teachers Choice funding will be restored in the $68.5 billion city budget deal reached on June 25 between the City Council and the Mayor Bloomberg.
Members of the Los Angeles teachers union ratified an agreement with the school district that prevents thousands of layoffs in exchange for 10 furlough days, which would shorten the school year by a week.
Families from every corner of the city joined teachers, child care providers, union leaders and elected officials at a rally on May 31 to protest Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts to child care that will hurt low-income families.
Mayor Bloomberg’s final budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, released on May 3, restores 2,570 of some 6,000 teaching positions lost over the past five years — marking the first time in four years that the city will be replacing teachers who leave.
On May 3, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled his executive budget, which calls for an increase in the number of teachers for the first time since 2008. The proposed budget would keep the number of general education teachers flat, by replacing all teachers who leave the system, while increasing the ranks of special education teachers. The mayor also said he hoped the UFT would engage in "serious discussions" on teacher evaluations, leaving out the fact that it was his administration that walked away from negotiations last December.
The Cleveland teachers union is battling the school superintendent’s plans to eliminate 600 of the city’s 4,000 teaching positions to help close next year’s budget deficit. As an incentive, the district is offering a cash bonus of 35 percent of a year’s pay to encourage teachers with at least 10 years on the job to retire. The remainder would be laid off.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew accused Mayor Bloomberg of turning his back on 16,000 low-income families by failing to include $104 million in the budget for subsidized child care. At a press conference on the steps of City Hall on March 29, child care activists and community, union and political leaders protested the cut as unacceptable.
It boggles the mind to think that after cutting funding for subsidized child care for low-income families for five years in a row, Mayor Bloomberg would now be pushing to eliminate 16,000 more slots for low-income kids.
With new money coming from the state and an improving city revenue picture, the Department of Education must finally start rebuilding ravaged school budgets, UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the City Council on March 27. Class sizes should go down and after-school and enrichment programs must be restored, he said.
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