Huge budget cuts released for our schools; call the City Council to tell them no!

 June 7, 2022

Yesterday, school budgets for next year were released, and many if not most schools are facing MILLIONS of dollars in cuts compared to this year.  A good article about these proposed cuts is here.

You can find out how much your school’s budget has been cut by plugging its 4 digit DBN code into the DOE webpage here; and compare your school’s total Galaxy budget from 2022 to 2023 by scrolling to the bottom of the page and checking the Grand Total. (If you don’t know your school’s 4 digit code, you can find it by putting its name on the school search page here.  The first letter refers to the borough; then there is a three digit number that follows.)  Some schools, like Fort Hamilton HS in D20, will be cut by as much as $8 million; Forest Hills HS by $4 million.   

Now DOE has been telling reporters that some budget lines will be added later in the summer and fall -- but those are for small and specialized programs, and principals are told to plan staffing based on this budget now.  Already, we're hearing of teachers being excessed as a result, and the DOE itself projected the loss of thousands of teaching positions based on these cuts in the Executive budget.

If enacted, these cuts will make class sizes increase sharply and cause the loss of essential services to kids.  Clearly, neither the Mayor nor the Chancellor are planning to abide by the language or the intent of the new state law passed last week requiring smaller classes.    Meanwhile, it has been reported that the Council may announce a budget deal with the Mayor as early as this week that would cement these cuts in place. 

What can parents and teachers do?

1.Call your Council Members today and tell them to vote against any budget deal that includes these egregious cuts, and to let the Speaker know now that they will vote against a city budget that contains them.  These cuts will tremendously hurt schools and the kids in their districts, and especially in light of the new state class size law, they are potentially illegal. You can find their phone nos. here.   

2. Then call the Speaker Adrienne Adams and leave the same message: 212-788-6850.  

3. Then ask your principal if they are willing to talk on or off the record to me or a reporter about the likely impact of these cuts. So far, many teachers are expressing their outrage on twitter, but so far, I’ve seen no principal speak out. If they are willing, have them email us at info@classsizematters.org Their confidentiality will be protected.

But please make those calls today!

Thanks, Leonie