State budget finalized. Big cuts are not there yet but could still be coming. This is the entire education part from City and State.
Public school funding
Drastic cuts to school aid appear to have been averted, thanks to additional money from the federal government, the aid to localities bill shows. Although the state is set to cut just shy of $400 million from school funding compared to the executive budget, the feds have chipped in an additional $1.3 billion. So the updated budget language actually represents about a $928 million increase in spending compared to Cuomor’s executive budget. It’s also about $1.4 billion more in total funding since last year’s enacted budget.
However, Foundation Aid, the main source of public school state funding, was frozen at last year’s levels. The budget also drops Cuomo’s proposal to change how the state allocates money in a way that would supposedly end the longtime “shares” agreement that allocates a fixed share of total state education funding to New York City and Long Island. In addition to the Foundation Aid freeze, the budget also authorizes the state education commissioner to make “pandemic adjustments” to school district allocation based on how much additional aid a district received from coronavirus relief funds. All the spending comes with the caveat that the state budget director may withhold any appropriations if the budget becomes unbalanced throughout the year due to economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
State lawmakers had big ambitions at the end of last year when it came to education funding. Democratic members of the Assembly and the state Senate were hoping to increase the amount of Foundation Aid part of a long-running feud with the governor over the meaning of a landmark 2006 legal settlement on education funding. But by the beginning of the week, it appeared that lawmakers were pushing for a freeze in the level of education funding in light of Cuomo’s warning of “drastic” cuts.
Chalkbeat had a story yesterday about Colorado. That state freed its districts from mandating teacher evaluations this year. New York state should do the same. Just defaulting to last years teacher ratings and starting over in September would be the fairest and least costly way to address the issue. It was also provide some compensation for the abrogation of our CBA and mandating that we provide unpaid labor during the Spring Break.
ReplyDeleteI would love to know how many people read this blog and how many of those actually comment. Most of the commenters appear to inhabit an echo chamber where the only thing one hears is that the UFT sucks. And if somebody dares to defend the UFT in any way, there is an immediate declaration that the person is on the UFT staff or is a unity shill. Perhaps James has some idea of how many people read the blog, but I have to figure the commenters number a dozen at most. The one thing that is pretty certain is that it is in no way representative of the UFT membership as a whole.
ReplyDelete945,
ReplyDeleteJames and people like myself are not looking to criticize the Uft except when it is warranted.
I will give them credit for the no layoff clause, but lately, mulgrew is in the back pocket of city hall and cuomo. Mulgrew’s responsibilities are to members who pay dues. In my mind, he has fallen short on this part.
Most Uft members do not even care about the union. This is true of the millennials. Sadly, the 22 year old doesn’t realize that by working 14 hour days and answering emails on weekends that he/she is making this job worse for others.
9:45
ReplyDeleteNot sure what membership you are speaking of but I know 8 out ten teachers are unhappy with the UFT and 10 of 10 with the DOE. I am a 20 year teacher in 6 different schools and it has always been like that.
Now, all of them stepping up and standing up for themselves? Well, that is a different story.
That is why the dummies keep paying for lousy service and that service continues.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling a lot of people do not know about this blog, but I work at a small school. There's a large group of NYC teachers on Facebook (where comments are flowing), and there were very opposing opinions shared about the loss of break. I understand the motive behind us working, but not without compensation. We do enough without compensation. Do we get bonuses when the NYC budget is operating under a surplus?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the commenters are not representative of the UFT membership. I do think a lot of members are oblivious to their benefits (pension, healthcare, even rights) and just follow along. This was really evident in my time as a chapter leader and also in the comments on Facebook.
I agree with James that opting out is not the way to go. It just appears to me that to defeat the Unity caucus (or make it work harder) is too challenging, due to both the aforementioned unawareness AND the weakness of each individual chapter (I am no better). I did not enjoy my time as a CL. Very few can handle a potentially adversarial role maturely. Thus, with a lack of outspoken veteran teachers in a lot of schools, this is where we are at.
One thing that has always boggled my mind is pattern bargaining. How/why the hell do the leaders of the different unions not collaborate and push the city to give us more? It must be because some are in the back pockets of City Hall.
I read the article in Chalkbeat. De Blasio said there could be 30,000 - 40,000 layoffs of teachers across the state. One way to save money in the city is to do a hiring freeze and force principals to hire out of the ATR. If they complain they can say otherwise they will lose some of their young teachers and principals always favor the young teachers. We all have to make sacrifices.
ReplyDelete1145,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. I feel the fair funding formula or whatever it is called that James and Chaz have spoken of for years needs to go.
9:45, We have many readers and lately our audience has gone up by a significant number. I wish every UFT member read us. It would be a completely different union then. I get complaints from the silent readers about the comments. I don't think some of the comments reflect the overall readership. I go to Facebook too and Twitter and I go to other blogs and see the comments. Please send us some traffic here. I welcome Unity opinions too. I like to know what the leadership is thinking.
ReplyDelete11:29, I absolutely enjoyed being a chapter leader. One of the best jobs in the world to be able to tell truth to power and still go in and teach the kids.
11:29 here. Just wasn’t for me at this point in my life. Maybe later I will go for it again. I greatly respect those that do it (especially those that do it well).
DeleteChicago cop’s coronavirus death will be deemed on-duty fatality.
ReplyDeleteWill our staff members get this done for them?
James, if you had to say do you think the Regents will be administered?
ReplyDeleteAnswer is most likely Regents will be canceled if this goes much longer which it probably will.
ReplyDeleteMessage from Mulgrew that the mayor is now requiring us to work on April 9 and April 10 despite religious observances. We will be granted 4 CAR days which we can use on those days if needed. Of course, Mulgrew did nothing but disagree.
ReplyDeleteMulgrew sent email that mayor is saying we work Thursday and Friday.
ReplyDeleteI’m not working and I’m not answering emails
ReplyDeleteChancellor Richard A. Carranza
@DOEChancellor
·
For the health & wellbeing of all, the City & the State agree schools must continue to offer remote learning, including on days previously scheduled as breaks. Schools will therefore continue with remote learning through 4/9-4/17, originally scheduled for Spring Recess. [2/x]
We know many New Yorkers plan to observe religious holidays on 4/9 & 4/10. Any students & school staff who wish to observe those holidays may do so. However, they will not be considered “days off”
@NYCSchools
. Remote learning will continue for students who aren’t observing. [3/x]
We are confident that continuing remote learning will help ensure that families adhere to social distancing in the coming weeks, which is imperative to slowing the spread of the virus and keeping New Yorkers safe. [4/x]
Chancellor Richard A. Carranza
The majority of Regional Enrichment Centers & Meal Hubs will stay open. Since we know Spring Recess is usually a time of rest & recharging for educators & students alike, we'll offer schools new remote learning resources that focus on daily themes & enrichment activities. [5/x]
Think “theme” days, including wellness, world languages, computer science, college & career readiness--plus taking advantage virtually of the unparalleled museums, libraries, & cultural institutions right here in NYC. More info on these activities will be shared next week. [6/x]
Please call visit http://schools.nyc.gov for information regarding Spring Recess, RECs, Free Meals, and much more. And as always, please reach out to your teacher, principal, and others at your school for continued information about remote learning and your child. [7/x]
I’m truly in awe of how our 150K staff and 1.1M students & their families keep rising to this challenge, and grateful for the grace, flexibility, and patience this time requires.
New York City has the best students & staff in the world...and nothing will ever change that. [end]
haha, unity is now tweeting how disrespectful de blasio is. wow. too little, too late.
ReplyDeleteBill de Blasio closed Broadway and left NYC schools open. His message? Rich people matter, but student and teachers can all drop dead.
ReplyDeleteSo here's the thing: Mulgrew already happily signed off on Cuomo's stealing spring recess week away. He had his
ReplyDelete@UFT
shills and sock puppets attacking anybody who questioned it. So, no wonder de Blasio thought he could one-up Cuomo & add Passover + Good Friday to work schedule.
10:21 PM · Apr 3, 2020·Twitter Web Client
3
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rbe
@perdidostschool
·
4m
Replying to
@perdidostschool
If
@UFT
had any power, they would go above de Blasio and have Cuomo mandate the religious days off (as Mulgrew claimed Cuomo graciously agreed to.)
But it seems the UFT has no power, so religious holidays are gone.
Don't kid yourself - summer is next.
rbe
@perdidostschool
·
4m
#COVID19 crisis won't be over by then. Singapore, a country that seemed to have outbreak under control, just locked down. There are signs of outbreak again in China + South Korea. Given the piss poor response of the U.S., there's little way the outbreak is stemmed by June or July
rbe
@perdidostschool
·
5m
If outbreak still a problem in June, you can bet Cuomo and/or de Blasio will use the same rationale (remote learning must continue to keep kids off the streets) to continue the school year into the summer. And the
@UFT
will be as powerless to stop that as they were to stop this.
The UFT's tweeting parrots won't cut it. The UFT should be screaming and taking the city to court to force the release of the number of sick and dead DOE employees. The City is doing so for all other agencies. A teacher just died after attending the unnessary mandated training. The UFT stood by silently to protect their precious dies.Teachers need to know if they were exposed at their individual schools. Also, if this teacher, or any others, died as a result the city's malfeasance, it would be a huge monetary difference for her surviving dependents. I can not vocalize how outrageous this is - a union that would allow its members to be sent into biological minefields, a dead teacher, a city that keeps statistics and records on the dead and sick for every agency, but not for teachers and again another HUGE betrayal from the silent UFT for not fighting for the release of vital information. That teacher could be your wife, husband or you. Doesn't her life count for something? How many times will the rank and file allow DeBlasio to shit on them without fighting back? How many deaths will it allow to go unanswered before forcing the UFT to do its ethical and fiduciary duties? Is Mulgrew the UFT or are the due paying teachers that make up the rank and file?
ReplyDelete@9:15PM - What would you like for Mulgrew to do? Punch out the Mayor? the union will need to sue for not closing down schools when cases were reported and fight for compensation.
ReplyDelete@9:15PM - What would you like for Mulgrew to do? Punch out the Mayor? The union will need to sue for not closing down schools when cases were reported and fight for compensation.
ReplyDeleteDemand compensation! Demand that statistics be released about staff and students that were infected! Demand union sue the DOE for not closing down schools when a report was made. Contact your chapter leaders. Contact the union. Let your voices be heard. Attend virtual town halls when our union president has one.
ReplyDelete