Deal Reached to Avert New York Teacher Layoffs by Fernanda Santos - NYTimes.com

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The threatened layoffs of 4,100 teachers in New York’s public schools were averted under a deal that the Bloomberg administration, the City Council and the teachers’ union reached on Friday night.

Details were still being worked out, but the agreement calls for concessions from the United Federation of Teachers and money from the Council.

Under the deal, the union would agree to suspend teacher sabbaticals for a year and permit teachers without a permanent assignment to be used more regularly as classroom substitutes. In addition, the Bloomberg administration would concede that 2,600 teachers would be lost to attrition, 600 more than estimated, saving additional jobs. On one hand, the resolution spares Mr. Bloomberg from becoming the first mayor in nearly 40 years to impose mass teacher layoffs. On the other hand, though, it threatens to undermine his credibility, given that he has declared for two consecutive years that layoffs were inevitable, only to see them averted in a budget deal.

The budget plan also allows the Council to keep open 20 fire companies that the mayor had ordered closed, and it may be able to restore at least some of the cuts he planned for day care services and librarians.

Still, it appeared that up to 1,000 city workers — many of them in health care jobs — would be laid off.

In a news conference at the Education Department headquarters in Lower Manhattan on Friday night, Mr. Bloomberg said he was disappointed he could not avoid all layoffs. Still, he said, “this is a budget that will keep our city strong, but it is also a budget that faces fiscal reality.”

Asked whether he thought his credibility had been hurt, the mayor defended his approach, saying the city faced extremely bleak and unpredictable economic circumstances.

The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, standing by the mayor’s side, praised the deal. “New Yorkers can rest easy tonight knowing that our children will still have great teachers,” she said.

Mr. Bloomberg had taken an aggressive posture during the negotiations, emboldened over the past days by the victories scored in Albany and Trenton against public-sector unions and becoming more emphatic about his demands. But in the end, he and the teachers’ union, one of his most vociferous opponents, had to reach an agreement, helping to balance a $66 billion budget that had a $4.6 billion gap.

A different rescue proposal fell apart on Thursday, after the city rejected an offer from the Municipal Labor Committee, a group representing roughly 100 municipal unions, for $262 million to be taken from a health care reserve fund they jointly manage. By then, Ms. Quinn and the teachers’ union president, Michael Mulgrew, had been secretly meeting for days.

Once the other deal collapsed, talks between Ms. Quinn and Mr. Mulgrew moved into overdrive.

On Friday morning, officials of the city’s Education Department made their way to the union’s headquarters to determine what would and would not be on the table. By late afternoon, the two sides had come to an agreement.

Ms. Quinn, meanwhile, worked to sell the plan to Mr. Bloomberg, emerging as the crucial figure in the process.

The budget must be approved by the full Council by Thursday.

Javier C. Hernandez contributed reporting

We Love NYC Teachers!

This video was made by a friend of mine...Watch it..!

A short video put together by NYC public school students and parents opposed to the planned layoff of over 4,100 teachers

Children Deliver 30,000 Petitions in Little Red Wagon

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OVER 50 EDUCATION PROFESSORS SIGN LETTER SAYING CHILD CARE FUNDING IS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION

CHILDREN DELIVER PETITIONS IN A LITTLE RED WAGON; ADVOCATES SAY IT IS TIME FOR MAYOR AND COUNCIL TO REALLY SAVE CHILD CARE & STOP PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS WITH CHILD CARE MONEY

Today hundreds of NYC Children, Parents, and Advocates delivered nearly 30,000 petitions via “Little Red Wagon” to City Hall calling on Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council to fully restore money to child care and after school programs in the final budget. Over 50 education professors also released a letter to the Mayor and the Speaker of the City Council calling on them to protect child care funding because of its importance in children’s readiness for further education. The Mayor’s Executive Budget released on May 6 makes significant cuts to child care, leaving thousands of low-income children without access to care.

“We need to be committed as a City to preparing our kids to learn on that first day of school. That’s something every parent knows and certainly something an ‘Education Mayor’ should understand,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who today delivered 3,773 signatures to City Hall from parents opposing childcare cuts. “This budget consigns an entire generation of New York City kids to inferior childcare—and in some cases no childcare at all—during those first critical years of their development. The parents of this city cannot let that happen.”

“The fact that we delivered nearly 30,000 petitions today shows just how much child care means to New York City’s communities,” said Reverend Emma Jordan-Simpson, Executive Director of Children’s Defense Fund-NY. “The Mayor and the City Council must restore funding to child care so that no child is deprived of care, no parent is forced to choose between child care and going to work, and no child care providers lose their jobs.”

Last week, a supermajority of the City Council sent a letter to the Mayor urging him to take immediate action to support working parents and their children by restoring funding to vital youth programs and services. “The dramatic cuts in funding to both the Out-of-School-Time (OST) and subsidized child-care systems will wreak havoc on the lives of those low-income working families who rely on these services for survival,” the letter said. And advocates maintain that the poorest neighborhoods with the highest unemployment rates, lowest median income levels, and the most students not meeting state and city reading standards are hit the hardest.

“We have not given up this fight because child care has not been saved,” said Chair of the City Council General Welfare Committee Annabel Palma. “Every child deserves an early education and every parent deserves safe, affordable options – that’s why the final budget must restore all cuts to child care.”

“I send my children to a day care center that I trust, a center that I myself attended as a child, and where the providers are like family to me,” said Elizabeth Villafane, a nurse’s aide and mother of 3 from Coney Island. “I was devastated when I got a letter that this center would close in June. They told me not to worry, ACS would find a solution. ACS told me to enroll the children in another center, but all the centers in Coney Island have waiting lists. What no one can tell me is, what am I supposed to do?”

“To address the achievement gap, the city should be working to strengthen quality early childhood education opportunities, not eliminating them,” said Education Professor Beverly Falk. “Research on the impact of quality early childhood programs on young children, especially those from low-income backgrounds, demonstrates that these programs are the best possible investment in children's futures. Depriving low-income children of the opportunity to participate in child care programs will move the city in the wrong direction and leave a lasting mark. We strongly urge you to reconsider this plan and fully restore child care.”

ABOUT CHILD CARE

Despite what some are saying, child care has not yet been saved. The Executive Budget still contains significant cuts to child care. New York’s children deserve more than a game of musical chairs. In this budget, 7,000 fewer children from low income working families will have access to child care next year, estimates the Emergency Coalition to Save Child Care. If these cuts are implemented, there will be 29% less child care and after school slots for working families in this coming Fiscal Year than there were in 2007. These cuts are a dramatic reversal of the City’s promise to expand early learning opportunities for our children.

IMPACT ON CHILDREN

Children will pay the biggest price for this cut in child care services. According to many studies, including The Productivity Argument for Investing In Young Children, early childhood learning opportunities lead to more positive outcomes later in life. Children who attend quality early childhood programs are more likely to graduate from high school, less likely to be involved in crime and less likely to become teen parents.

IMPACT ON WORKING PARENTS

Child care is the single most important factor keeping single mothers in the workforce. Research has shown that child care subsidy programs increase employment rates for single mothers. Federal welfare reform was accompanied by a massive ramp up in support for child care which was a key part in moving more New Yorkers from welfare to work. Many parents, especially single mothers, have reported that they would be unable to work without child care assistance. The costs of child care are prohibitive and for many, without a subsidy, it does not pay to work. Despite all of the rhetoric about helping people become employed and stay self-sufficient, these cuts will lead to many parents leaving the workforce and becoming more reliant on government supports, such as health insurance, food stamps, unemployment or public assistance.

IMPACT ON NEW YORK ECONOMY

Studies have shown that every $1 cut from child care leads to a $1.86 loss in economic activity, and that child care and early learning programs save hundreds of millions of dollars in future costs for remedial education and lowered high school graduation rates.

These cuts will lead to a higher need for other government programs such as health insurance, food stamps, public assistance and unemployment benefits. Many parents determine that the high cost of child care exceeds their income, and they are unable to go to work because they have nowhere safe for their children during the day. More than a thousand early childhood professionals will lose their jobs and the availability of employment in this sector will be drastically reduced.

NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio Mobilizes Parents Citywide Against Teacher Layoffs

PARENTS HIT THE STREETS TO DEMAND MAYOR BLOOMBERG KEEP TEACHERS IN THE CLASSROOM

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio today mobilized over 100 parent volunteers at 30 locations across the city for the Public Advocate’s “Parent Day of Action” against teacher layoffs. Parents and organizers urged New Yorkers to record audio and videos testimonials which are being uploaded to www.parentsforteachers.com in real time.

In just two hours on Thursday morning the Public Advocate’s parent volunteers and organizers collected over 1000 petition signatures and dozens of audio and video testimonials that have been posted online.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said, “Today, New York City parents hit the streets to take action against a budget that jeopardizes their children’s future. As a public school parent, I will not let us get shut out of the budget process, especially when Mayor’s Bloomberg’s proposed teacher layoffs would send class sizes through the roof.  

My office will continue to organize parents across New York until City Hall finally hears our voices.”

Councilmember Margaret Chin said, “The teacher layoffs threatened by Mayor Bloomberg are unacceptable. There are billions of dollars in the DOE budget this year for outside contracts, IT consultants, and even teacher recruitment. How can we legitimately threaten to lay off thousands of teachers while we are spending that kind of money hiring additional central staff, at the cost of increased class sizes? I applaud Public Advocate de Blasio and education advocates for their efforts today in highlighting the impact of these cuts. I and my colleagues in the City Council will be working hard with our Speaker, Christine Quinn, to push back on the Mayor’s proposed education cuts and to find alternative ways to fund the most important item in the DOE budget, our teachers.”

Councilmember Debi Rose said, “Laying-off teachers and cutting day care is unnecessary and wrong! There’s no way that we could lose 4,000 or more teachers and it not have a devastating impact on our youth and our communities. The future of our city depends on a well-educated work force. Less teachers in our schools means more students will be squeezed into classrooms that are already bulging at the seams. This will certainly have a negative effect on the quality of education in our schools. We must tell Mayor Bloomberg that we demand that our teachers and students come first in the budget-making decision.”

State Senator Shirley L. Huntley said, “Education is the key to success and can unlock unlimited doors of opportunity. Yet, to ensure our children attain a proper and sound education and can achieve success, we need teachers to help them along the way. Due to the regressive economic climate the New York City Department of Education is threatening to lay off 4,100 teachers. That is 4,100 less teachers that are children will have to educate them, 4,100 less teachers our children can go to for help and guidance, and 4,100 less teachers to make our schools tolerant, safe, and productive. Parents and community advocates all across the five boroughs must take a stand against any action that threatens our children’s education.”

State Senator Adriano Espaillat said, “We need our teachers in the classroom, not the unemployment line. New York's fiscal challenges should be addressed through common-sense progressive measures like the ‘millionaire's tax’ instead of teacher layoffs that place our children's education in jeopardy.”

Earlier this month, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio launched a series of online forums for parents where they can voice their objections to Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed cuts and also submit written and video testimonials in support of their child’s teachers. The websitewww.parentsforteachers.com contains testimonials from parents in all five boroughs, including dozens of messages from parents recorded today. Video testimonials are designed to be viewed, embedded and distributed online.

Parent Day of Action for NYC Schools and Teachers - Thursday, May 26

This Thursday, May 26th, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and hundreds of parents will be flyering, petitioning and talking to New Yorkers at dozens of locations across the city as part of a citywide Parent Day of Action. I hope you can join us. To volunteer or learn more send us an email at organize@pubadvocate.nyc.gov or visit:
http://advocate.nyc.gov/parent-day-action

News & Notes from NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio...

FDNY CUTS PUT RESPONSE TIMES OVER NATIONAL "RED LINE"

May 21, 2011

Public Advocate De Blasio: 18 of 20 Cut Companies Won’t Meet Basic Standard

A report released today by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio shows the cuts to 20 fire companies in Mayor Bloomberg's Executive Budget will seriously imperil emergency response times. According to the report, 18 of these companies will exceed a national 4-minute standard after cuts are implemented—-some by over a full minute. The National Fire Protection Association urges a 4-minute response to prevent fires from spreading beyond a single room, after which the risk of civilian death triples and property damage increases more than eight-fold.

"The neighborhoods targeted by these cuts will see their safety go up in smoke," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. "If the Mayor succeeds in cutting these companies, some communities won't meet the response times needed in places like Fargo, North Dakota, let alone a city where we need to fight fires on the upper floors of big apartment buildings."

Council Member Elizabeth Crowley (D-30, Queens), Chair of the Fire & Criminal Justice Committee stated, "In addition to the findings in this study, the FDNY is not counting the time the 911-caller is spending with the 911 operator which could be up to two minutes. Response times are significantly higher than what the Administration is reporting--and these false response times are being used to justify closing fire companies.  The Administration's policy for reporting response times is misleading, inaccurate and dangerous."

The Public Advocate's report is based on response time increases estimated by the FDNY. The National Fire Protection Association standard is modeled on responding to a fire at a two-story, single-family home where firefighting can commence soon after crews arrive. In a dense city like New York, firefighters require additional minutes to ascend multi-story buildings, making any response times above the national standard even more alarming.

Read the report at:http://advocate.nyc.gov/files/DeBlasio_Fire_Company_Closures_Brief.pdf

Read it on Scribd at:http://www.scribd.com/doc/55945084/Public-Advocate-de-Blasio-Report-on-FDNY-Budget

STATEMENT BY PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON FIREHOUSE CLOSURES

May 19, 2011

“The list of fire company cutbacks shows what the Mayor’s budget really means for the safety of New Yorkers and their families. In my own neighborhood, Engine Company 220, which is a block from my house, now faces an estimated 30-second jump in response time. As Fire Commissioner Cassano has acknowledged, higher response times mean greater risks for New Yorkers. I will fight to keep every one of these firehouses open so that no family is put in harm’s way.”

STATEMENT BY PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON EXTENSION OF “TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS” FOR HAITIANS IN U.S
May 17, 2011

“I applaud President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano for extending Temporary Protected Status to Haitian nationals living in the United States through 2013. Thousands of Haitians living in our city will be better able to support their friends and families as Haiti continues to recover. Haiti still remains in desperate need of assistance, and I encourage all New Yorkers to continue showing their tremendous generosity by donating to relief efforts.”

New Yorkers can make donations to Haiti relief efforts through the following organizations:

International Rescue Committee

https://www.rescue.org/donate/donate-now-haiti

Clinton Foundation Relief Fund for Haiti

www.clintonfoundation.org/haitirelief

International Red Cross

Mail a check with “Haiti” in the memo line to:

American Red Cross

P.O. Box 37243

Washington, DC 20013

STATEMENT BY PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON DOE PLEDGE TO REDO COMMUNITY EDUCATION COUNCIL ELECTIONS
MAY 13, 2011

“The Department’s revamped plan for CEC elections is only a partial victory for parents. I remain deeply concerned that a few days are insufficient to fully investigate what went wrong with this year’s elections, and that there may still be parents who were blocked from the ballot without just cause. While it was the right decision to postpone elections and restart voting, we need a lot more consideration from Tweed including a plan that ensures parents their rightful place in school decisions.”

STATEMENT FROM PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER IN BRANDEIS HIGH SCHOOL COURT CASE

MAY 13, 2011

“As a public school parent, I do not see any sense in spending taxpayer dollars to renovate Brandeis until the outcome of this lawsuit is settled. The Department of Education should take this decision as an opportunity to find a more appropriate home for Success Academy, and to enable the students at Brandeis to continue to thrive.”

STATEMENT FROM PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON ARRESTS OF SUPSECTS PLANNING TO ATTACK MANHATTAN SYNAGOGUE
MAY 12, 2011

“As President Obama has said, we need the vigilance and dedication of City and State government to successfully fight terrorism. Today local law enforcement has once again protected our city by dismantling a hateful and anti-Semitic plot to attack a synagogue. I commend all officers involved as well as Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Ray Kelly and District Attorney Cyrus Vance for their leadership in keeping New Yorkers safe.”

AN OPEN LETTER CHALLENGING BRADLEY A. SMITH OF THE CENTER FOR COMPETITIVE POLITICS TO A CITIZENS UNITED DEBATE
MAY 11, 2011

The following open letter has been sent to Bradley A. Smith of the Center for Competitive Politics in response to an op-ed in today’s New York Post. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has invited Mr. Smith to debate the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, and its relevance to New Yorkers.

May 11, 2011

Dear Mr. Smith,

The protection of our democratic process is the responsibility of all citizens. As New York City’s Public Advocate, I take that charge especially seriously.

Your assertion in today’s New York Post that the excessive corporate political spending let loose by the Citizens United ruling doesn’t matter to New Yorkers proves just how little you know about our city. For us, this is both a matter of economic interest and a moral imperative.

As a trustee of a $40 billion pension fund, I know firsthand that the rash political ventures of corporate America can have major consequences for the retirement and security of thousands of working people in New York. Citizens United has opened the way for companies to make political contributions right out of the corporate treasury, and by extension, out of our pension investments. The financial future of hard-working retirees shouldn’t rest on the political whims of corporate executives.

To contend that New Yorkers and Americans don’t care about the corrosive influence of money in our elections is blatantly untrue. Our city has blazed the trail of campaign finance reform by instituting a system of public matching funds that helps serious candidates of any income level to run for office. Just last fall, NYC voters overwhelmingly enacted a ballot measure to require disclosure of independent expenditures in City elections. There can be no question where New Yorkers’ hearts and minds are on this issue.

In short, the avalanche of corporate money into our political system does matter to New Yorkers, and all the more so because it happens in our own back yard. Just yesterday, American Crossroads—Karl Rove’s latest assault on democracy—announced its intention to drop $350,000 on a single special election for an upstate New York House seat.

I would welcome the chance to challenge you on these points so New Yorkers can see and judge for themselves. I invite you to debate in person the impact of Citizens United on our political system in New York and nationally.

I believe you will find New Yorkers both interested, and opinionated, on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

Bill de Blasio

Public Advocate for the City of New York

STATEMENT BY PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON TEACHER LAYOFFS

MAY 6, 2011

“Despite the fiscal challenges we face, the Mayor is making the wrong choices for our children’s future. Even a cursory look at the millions we spend on teacher recruitment and technology consultants shows that the Administration has not made a real effort to strip down other expenses before firing teachers. The Administration also cannot afford to continue making the political fight around Last In/First Out a higher priority than keeping teachers in the classroom. As a public school parent I am outraged by how these choices jeopardize the stability of our schools. I will be organizing parents across New York City to demand that this budget makes our children the number one priority.”

STATEMENT BY PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON MAYOR BLOOMBERG PICKING NISSAN TO BE TAXI OF TOMORROW
MAY 3, 2011

“The Taxi of Tomorrow should be creating the jobs of today for New York City, New York State and America. Instead, the Administration is giving away a $1 billion contract to a company based overseas without seeking any commitments for investment in our local and national economies. This failure, along with potential conflicts of interest between the TLC’s hired consultant Ricardo Inc. and Nissan, cast serious doubts on the legitimacy of the Administration’s final decision and its focus on bringing New York City out of the recession.”

STATEMENT BY PUBLIC ADVOCATE DE BLASIO ON INSPECTIONS OF ILLEGALLY SUBDIVIDED APARTMENTS
May 2, 2011

“Illegally converted apartments are a clear hazard to the safety of New Yorkers. It should not take the Department of Buildings weeks to dispatch inspectors, only to have many of them stymied by locked doors. The Department must accelerate its inspection process and increase its attempts to gain access to illegally subdivided units. We need to hold irresponsible landlords accountable and shut."

City Prepares to Spend Nearly $1 Billion on Education Consultants as it Fires 4,100 Teachers by Rachel Monahan - NY Daily News

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As the city prepares to lay off 4,100 teachers, the Department of Education is planning to spend nearly $1 billion on consultants next school year, a new analysis shows.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer blasted the agency's budget as a "black hole" and took issue with the 6% increase on consultants, after his office pored over the latest budget documents.

"There are a whole lot of troubling increases that have nothing to do with spending money in the classrooms," said Stringer, noting the city's plans to lay off teachers was "political gamesmanship" and the "solution" may lie in the $20 billion Education Department budget.

"This is a black hole that gets darker and deeper as time goes on," he added.

"It's time to shine some light on what these services really are."

Stringer's analysis, which agency officials dismissed, found the agency is increasing its spending on consultants under the central administration budget by $25 million - with $23 million of the increase spent on computer services.

The analysis also found increased spending on consultants to recruit teachers by nearly $1 million - while the city is cutting teachers.

Education Department officials have said that it's necessary to continue recruiting teachers to shortage areas like special education even during cuts.

City Education Department officials rejected the analysis, saying that most of the consulting budget is for required services and directly goes to serving students with disabilities.

"The Borough President either fails to recognize an important fact about these consultant costs or he is intentionally misleading people," Chancellor Dennis Walcott said. "The truth is that over $840 million of the $981 million he cites are dedicated to direct services for our students with the vast majority going towards our students with disabilities which are services that are required under the law."%A0

Agency officials also disputed that the computer contracts are increasing so steeply, saying instead that they underestimated expenses last year.

Jose Gonzalez, whose sons Alvaro, 10, and Allan, 9, attend Public School 73 in the Bronx joined a protest against budget cuts held yesterday at City Hall.

"We want a better education for our children. How are we going to do that?...They're really wasting money on consultants and contracts," said Gonzalez, a member of the Coalition for Educational Justice.

An Open Letter on Behalf of Public School Parents to Chancellor Dennis Walcott by Bill de Blasio - Huffington Post

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To Chancellor Walcott:

For the past nine years our schools have been run by a top-down bureaucracy that too often alienates public school parents. To your great credit, you have said that you want to engage parents and communities more than in the past. But you have also said that you plan to stay the course on the Bloomberg administration's education policies and practices. I believe you have the background and experience to finally bring parents into our school system, but I know you will not be able to do it by maintaining the status quo.

I am a public school parent and I have talked with parents all over our city who are tired of the Department of Education treating them like problems instead of partners. They are looking for a chancellor who has the independence to bring real change to our school system. To accomplish this goal, I believe you must immediately take on three pressing issues facing our schools today: reforming the DOE's closed off, bureaucratic process for closing and co-locating schools; fully supporting the parents of students with disabilities; and most importantly, saving the over 4,600 teachers who will be fired under Mayor Bloomberg's budget.

As our growing student population has required more and more schools to share space through co-locations, the DOE has resisted listening to parents' concerns and suggestions at every turn. Last year my office produced a report exposing how the DOE's top-down policies completely left parents out of the process, an approach that can result in critical school spaces being lost and students being squeezed into disjointed schedules. The DOE initially agreed to adopt several of our recommended reforms, including engaging more thoroughly with parents and community members when a school is being considered for co-location or closure, but so far they have not fully followed through. The Brandeis complex on the Upper West Side houses four schools, including the Frank McCourt high school, which was brought in by the community this past September. Now the DOE is threatening this progress by forcing a new schoolinto the building, a decision that could cost Frank McCourt students their science labs, classroom space and music programs. Going forward, you should be willing to adjust the DOE plans based on legitimate concerns on the ground, including finding alternate locations when a co-location simply does not work.

Every year the DOE closes and co-locates dozens of schools, upending educational environments for thousands of students. Far too often these major decisions are conducted in a vacuum, where the views of parents are treated as an obstacle to implementing policy decisions, instead of important feedback worth serious consideration. The DOE nearly shut down P.S. 114 in Brooklyn after failing to remove its principal, Maria Peñaherrera, who had driven the school into debt and reduced its academic performance. Led by PTA President Crystal King, the parents fought back, joining local elected officials and my office, which produced a report tracing the DOE's history of ignoring concerns from parents about Principal Peñaherrera for years. At the eleventh hour the school was saved, but this last-minute reversal would never have been necessary if the DOE had just been willing to listen to the P.S. 114 community from the start. Continuing a policy of closing schools first and asking questions later will only widen the gap between your agency and parents. Instead, I urge you as chancellor to use closure as a last resort, following a real effort to give struggling schools support, including teacher training.

There are over 165,000 students with disabilities in public schools. Their parents face greater challenges than many others, but instead of being helped by the DOE they too are often forced to fight against its bureaucracy. Elisa Gravitch from Staten Island has a ten year-old son named Kyle who is on the autism spectrum. At his elementary school, Kyle was in an Autism Spectrum Disorder NEST program, which creates a balanced and supportive learning environment. As his elementary education came to an end, Elisa wanted the DOE to put Kyle in a middle school that would provide the same educational and social supports. But for over a year the DOE repeatedly ignored or dismissed requests from Elisa and other parents with children in the program. It took public intervention by local officials and my office for the DOE to finally hear these parents out and put their children in the school that best fit their needs. With everything parents of students with disabilities already have to deal with, it should not take a year-long lobbying campaign for their voices to be heard. Under your leadership, the DOE will be implementing an important reform effort to make all community schools more inclusive to students with disabilities. In order to make these reforms work, you must be more supportive than your predecessor of parents of students with disabilities and willing to take their input.

Finally, the most immediate issue facing our school system today is the mayor's proposal to fire over 4,600 teachers. This threat is not a new one; this is the second budget cycle that the mayor has threatened to eliminate thousands of teachers, and then changed his mind seconds before the clock ran out. But while this year's budget dynamics make the prospect of serious layoffs far more real, the mayor has made it abundantly clear that his agenda puts the repeal of Last In/First Out before everything else. I believe we need a new system for evaluating teachers that accounts for student performance, but prioritizing this political fight over keeping teachers in the classroom is too great a risk to take. You need to show independence from City Hall by working first to stop thousands of teachers from being laid off instead of pursuing the mayor's political agenda.

You will most likely be the last DOE Chancellor of this administration. This is a real opportunity to improve upon Mayor Bloomberg's education legacy and to finally end the history of tension between parents and our school system. Giving parents a real voice in policy decisions, providing them with the support they need and asking them to contribute to their children's education will make our schools better. I hope you will join me in working with parents and all education stakeholders to make this vision a reality.

Bill de Blasio is Public Advocate for the City of New York.

NYC Comptroller John Liu Statement on Dept of Education Contract Rejection

New York City Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to inquiries about his rejection of a $20 million teacher recruitment contract for the Department of Education (DOE):

“Twenty million dollars to recruit teachers as the DOE insists on laying off thousands of teachers seems curious at best,” said Comptroller Liu.

The five-year contract, with the “New Teacher Project,” was submitted in early February. The DOE was seeking the contract to “recruit, select, train and provide job search support to non-traditional candidates to become public school teachers.”

The contract submission comes at a time when agencies are being asked to cut services, including the DOE’s plan to lay off 4,600 teachers.

NYC Comptroller John C. Liu Statement on Possible Teacher Layoffs...

City Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to inquiries about his reaction to Governor Cuomo’s proposal regarding teachers:

“Rather than attempt an end-run around collective bargaining, as the Mayor has tried to do, Governor Cuomo has stood up for both the city's children and the rights of union members.

“The Governor has continued to insist that the state budget he has proposed should not require local layoffs, despite the fact that the Mayor has threatened to lay off thousands of teachers and send class sizes skyrocketing, even if the state comes through with major new revenues for the city.

“The Governor has also taken a creative approach to developing a new and more objective standard to measure teacher effectiveness – a methodology developed by State Education Commissioner Steiner and the teachers' union that helped ensure New York's success in the national Race to the Top competition.

“New York is not Wisconsin, and the kind of leadership Governor Cuomo has shown on these issues stands as an example to other states where critical services and workers' rights are under assault.”

Black Marks for Schools Chancellor on Trip to Williamsburg by Aaron Short • The Brooklyn Paper

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Hours after Mayor Bloomberg announced on Monday that 4,600 teachers would be laid off due to budget cuts, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black took her roadshow to Williamsburg, where she was verbally assaulted by nearly 200 seething Williamsburg parents and teachers.

Speaker after speaker took issue with Black over virtually all of her and Mayor Bloomberg’s educational agenda:

• On layoffs: “Our teachers — they’re not from Teach for America — these people grew up in this neighborhood, went to school here, and stayed here when on one else would,” said Brian DeVale, principal of PS 257 in Bushwick. He argued that good principals know how to get rid of bad teachers without layoffs from on high.

• On priorities: “This is an agency with a $22 billion budget — we should be trying to find savings in there somewhere,” said Councilman Steve Levin (D–Greenpoint).

• On charter schools: “I’m upset by the lack of community schools,” said Williamsburg parent David Dobosz. “We now have a mayoral dictatorship of schools. This is not what the law intended.”

To her critics, Black repeated what she has often said when under fire: “I will work day in and day out as your chancellor,” she said in her opening statements at the “town hall” meeting at JHS 71 on Rutledge Street. “We will work with the best of our abilities to solve our financial problems.”

DeVale had another problem with Black — she wouldn’t take his teddy bear.

Yes, the principal showed up with a gift for Black: a bear that he said was in honor of President Teddy Roosevelt’s dedication towards civil service.

“It’s ironic that [mayoral control of schools] is now trying to destroy civil service,” said DeVale. “She wouldn’t take the bear.”