Mulgrew says there are no layoffs in the city budget but for some reason neglects to mention that if a federal bailout and/or borrowing authority from Albany do not come, layoffs could still be on the table as of October 1.
Dear UFT Member,
Over our strong objections, Mayor Bill de Blasio cut the $20 million required for the Teacher’s Choice program for the 2020-21 school year in the city budget passed last week. I know you were counting on this money to buy classroom supplies, and we will fight hard for the restoration of the funding next year.
City lawmakers, who by law must pass a balanced budget, faced a $9 billion deficit this year after the New York City economy plunged into recession in the wake of the coronavirus. The final city budget contained a total of $404 million in new cuts to the Department of Education budget for the fiscal year that just ended and the new fiscal year while restoring $125 million in cuts that the mayor had threatened in April to make.
The City Council was able to convince the mayor to restore $100 million in fair student funding for schools, a funding stream that pays for staff salaries and school-level programs. No layoffs of DOE employees or other municipal workers were announced as part of the budget, but a school-based hiring freeze remains in effect.
Heeding the outcry from our union and other advocates for children, the City Council also restored funding for the Single Shepherd program, which pairs every middle and high school student in grades 6–12 in Districts 7 in the South Bronx and District 23 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, with a dedicated school counselor or social worker who supports them through graduation and college enrollment. The mayor had planned to eliminate the program.
Our allies in the City Council preserved funding for those UFT-supported initiatives that rely on Council funds: the UFT Teacher Center, United Community Schools, the Positive Learning Collaborative, the anti-bullying BRAVE initiative and the Dial A Teacher homework helpline.
The mayor also committed to a multi-year transition of responsibility for the school system’s more than 5,000 school safety agents from the NYPD to the Department of Education. Next year, school safety agents will receive additional DOE-led training in de-escalation, implicit bias and restorative justice. The plan at this time is that school safety agents will be DOE employees at the end of the process.
Given the unprecedented financial challenges that New York City and New York State face, we need the federal stimulus money in the U.S. HEROES Act to fend off worse cuts to our public schools down the road. The UFT, in partnership with the AFT, is leading the push for the passage of that legislation in Congress this summer.
The UFT will continue to fight to protect your safety, your profession and your livelihoods as we confront the challenges ahead. We are just at the beginning of this rocky road.
Stay healthy and safe.
Sincerely,
Michael Mulgrew
UFT President
10 comments:
Typical Mulgrew, don't tell the whole story.
Losing teacher's choice is another UFT victory. I bet the same two people are going to opt out for the 700th time even though the opt out period is over.
As long as we get the final lump sum payment in October (three months from now).
Dear Mr. Mulgrew,
Do Not Send Us Into an Unsafe Work Place Under Any Circumstances! We Expect You to Fight for Us!
No More Give Backs! We Expect You to Fight for Us!
Do Not Mess with Our Health Care! We Expect You to Fight for Us!
Do Not Mess with Our Final Scheduled Retro Payment! We Expect You to Fight for Us!
We have been waiting 11 Years, 11 Years, 11 Years to be paid with NO INTEREST ! We Expect You to Fight for Us!
Get the Final I.O.U. payable to those of us Waiting to be Made Whole for 11 YEARS! We Expect You to Fight for Us!
This Ball is Going to Be in Your Ball Park!
We Expect You to Be There for YOUR Members Who Pay, We Expect You to Fight for Us!
In an $88.1 billion city budget, a few million dollars for a scaled down Teacher's Choice is chump change. The fact that the UFT could not even get a token allocation shows how incredibly weak the UFT is under Mulgrew. Keep voting Unity or throwing the ballot in the trash.
How did Mulgrew get to be a union leader? I know he was elected but like how did he even get to that level of inner circle union leadership...I mean I have met a lot of morons (sterling robinson #1) from the UFT but there must have been at least a couple of better people... If nothing else, Mulgrew should have argued that we needed that money if we go back for lysol products, hand sanitizer,etc... my school is out of toilet paper every day by 8th period of a 9th period day... soap his gone way before that. Also do these people know that we work in non ventilated buildings, the majority of which have no AC.... you think this assh*le could at least put that sentence together...he had his big boy pants on last week trying to smack Diblasio around; must have just finished giving the Gov a rim job to get that jolt of confidence. He needs to take some lessons from Pat Lynch on how to talk to the media and to management... and someone needs to remind him that he works for teachers.... not the NYC DOE
I need teacher’s choice to buy Xmas gifts.
No more opt out, had your chance. If you are happy paying, good for you. Just another uft loss. Enjoy september.
The disinfectant stuff is a waste of time. Give everyone N95 masks and we can all go back to work
We're going to need Teacher's choice to buy hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes because the schools are going to run out of all that the first week.
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