IBO SHOWS GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM WILL BE HIT HARDEST BY MAYOR'S BUDGET CUTS

You don't want to be stuck in general education if you want your education funded properly in New York City. This is from the June Independent Budget Office analysis of the mayor's Executive Budget's proposed cuts to the Department of Education.

The Citywide Savings Program that is part of the Mayor’s 2021 Executive Budget identifies $471 million in savings from the Department of Education (DOE) for 2021, and $267 million in each year from 2022 through 2024 (unless otherwise noted, all years are city fiscal years). Much of this reduction targets classroom spending for general education students. The general education classroom, or  instructional, budget—which covers everything from teachers to administrative and support staff (including fringe benefit costs) to classroom supplies and services—is currently 28 percent of DOE’s total $28.4 billion budget. But the proposed reduction to general education instruction will account for 68 percent of next year’s budget cut for schools and 65 percent of the cuts in each of the succeeding years of the financial plan.

Next year’s budget cuts include $322 million from general education instruction with the balance of roughly $149 million coming from other parts of the education department’s budget, including central and regional administrative offices, 3-K for All (budgeted as part of the Universal Pre-K budget program), food services, school facilities, and pupil transportation. Savings in 2022 through 2024 will remain constant at $267 million each year: $178 million annually from general education instruction and savings of $89 million in other areas of the budget, largely from central and regional administration.

Let me see if I understand this right: general education makes up 28% of the DOE budget but will absorb 68% of the cuts. Unbelievable! 

On Fair Student Funding, 94% of schools already didn't receive full funding during good times. It will only get worse.

The largest cut to general education instruction will be a $100 million one-year reduction in Fair Student Funding (FSF) next year. Details have yet to be released by the de Blasio Administration and IBO anticipates that some key information will not be available until schools receive their preliminary budgets for next year, which normally happens in May but has yet to occur this year and will now leave very little time for schools to adjust to the reductions. 

Fair Student Funding is a formula used to allocate money to schools based on the academic needs of each school’s student body. Schools get most of their money through the FSF formula; this school year, FSF accounts for an average of 66 percent of schools’ budgets. Because FSF is not fully funded, school’s actual FSF allocations are generally lower than the amount indicated under the formula. Of the 1,521 schools that received funding through FSF, more than three-quarters received allocations below their formula amount, including fringe benefits, the cumulative shortfall totaled more than $757 million. Conversely, 6 percent of schools (84 schools) received more than their formula amounts, with the excess totaling $22.4 million.

As for special education, it looks like no cuts:

Although the education department has not identified which specific allocations will be cut, it has indicated that mandated special education and early childhood allocations will not be impacted.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see special education or early childhood cut. I want to see the classroom fully funded in general education just like it is special education and early childhood.

For those looking at how the Absent Teacher Reserves fit into this picture:

The Absent Teacher Reserve includes teachers whose schools have been closed or restructured as well as teachers removed from the classroom for disciplinary reasons. The hiring freeze, which began earlier this year, continues to limit external hiring as long as there are internal candidates in the ATR pool. This initiative is limited to classroom teachers and support staff, and the de Blasio Administration expects to save $50 million by avoiding new hiring. Accounting for prior savings related to the Absent Teacher Reserve that IBO detailed in an April 2020 budget brief, aggregate savings from actions related to the Absent Teacher Reserve for next year are projected to total almost $125 million. 

On Teacher's Choice:

$10.4 million is saved by halving the $20.8 million budget for the teacher’s choice program that supports classroom supplies;

There are more cuts listed; please read the report.

They really can make these cuts without touching the classroom but they probably won't. Too many DOE fiefdoms would be in jeopardy. This is rather disgraceful.

At the New York City Department of Education, it's teachers and students last always. No change there.