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Thousands of parents, teachers, children and elected officials held a large rally on Wednesday to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to not cut $600 million for education next year. NY1’s Education reporter Michael Meenan filed the following report.Thousands of parents, teachers, children and elected officials held a large rally on Wednesday amid afternoon downpours to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to not cut $600 million for education next year.
"When things get tough, the first place they come to tackle are our children," said Ernest Logan, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.
The city’s Department of Education has received a $180 million cut this year, with $100 million coming out of school budgets. The city intends to have the education cuts close a revenue gap, but Wednesday’s protesters called for cuts from the central school bureaucracy.
"We're all sick and tired of too many consultants. We're sick and tired of no-bid contracts. We're sick and tired of not being told the truth,” said City Councilmember Bill De Blasio.
The DOE claimed to have cut up to $350 million of fat and sent that money to classrooms, but f the 51 City Council members have signed a resolution demanding restoration of this year's cuts.
Mayor Bloomberg said he does not want to cut a penny from schools, but is forced to do so.
"We can’t say one thing's more important than another,” said Bloomberg. “Everybody's going to share the pain in the same way that everybody shares the rewards."
Albany has its own budget woes, with projections that state aid to city schools for next year will be hundreds of millions of dollars less than expected.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said the mayor sends the wrong message to state lawmakers by ordering city school cuts.
"Get the chancellor to say, not one dollar do we lose for our children. That's how you negotiate,” said Stringer. “You start a firewall and say we're not going to take it."
The United Federation of Teachers urged the mayor to support a State Assembly plan that would spare schools from budget cuts.
"Not only do belt-tightening of the bureaucracy, but sign on to the plan the Assembly has proposed for how to mitigate the cuts," said UFT President Randi Weingarten.
But city schools, and their $20 billion budget, may be the only place Bloomberg can use to deal with a city cash shortage.
Bloomberg has the final say one how much money each school will receive to spend on education, and his decision depends on the size of the budget given to him from Albany.
- Michael Meenan
