NYC parents, teachers, and kids win in court to halt budget cuts to schools!

 

What a morning!  First there a huge rally at Foley Square, with parents, teachers and advocates inveighing against the grotesque budget cuts to schools.  Tamara Tucker, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against these cuts, spoke first, and her photo at the microphone is above.

Tamara and I left the rally at about 9:40 AM, and quickly walked over to the courtroom at the NY State Supreme Court, 80 Centre St., room 308 so as not to miss our chance to witness the oral arguments in the case before Judge Frank.  The courtroom was already half full, mostly with reporters and city attorneys, and soon would fill up completely before the hearing started.

Among the parents I noticed aside from Tamara were Tom Shepherd and Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, two PEP members, and NeQuan McLean, CEC16 President.  Tom and NeQuan had also provided us with affidavits about how the public process in adopting the budget had been contrary to what’s required by state law.

The court officer said that we had to wear masks unless we were vaxed or boosted in the last six months,.  A few people went up to show their vaccination cards; I kept my mask on even though I’ve been recently boosted.

Jill Jacobsen, reporter for NY1, showed up with a cameraman, and submitted a piece of paper requesting that  theyvideotape the proceedings.  The Court officer came back and said the Judge respectfully declined the request.  (I didn’t know that was possible in NY courtrooms, did you?)

Judge Frank came in and jokingly said, “My Gosh!  So many people in the courtroom!”  He immediately launched into the substance of the case.  He thanked both sides for their papers, said he was on a sharp learning curve on the issues involved, and focused on the Emergency Declarations that the DOE had been using to short circuit the PEP vote, for at least ten years out of the last twelve.

He asked the City’s attorney, Jeffrey Dantowitz, about the latest Emergency Declaration issued on May 31, what did it say?   Did it mean the PEP didn't have to vote before the budget is determined?  Dantowitz said that it did, but that in any event they did eventually vote to approve the budget later, even if this was after the Council voted to adopt the budget. 

The pro bono attorneys for the plaintiffs, Laura Barbieri and  Arthur Schwartz from Advocates for Justice stood up and said the Emergency Declaration was obviously invalid; it described no explanation of any actual emergency, and no affidavit from the Chancellor was submitted  to attest to an emergency.  Arthur said, “It’s not like 9/11 or Covid just happened.”

Judge Frank pointed out that as we had reported in our Memo of Law, year after year, the DOE has issued Emergency Declarations with boilerplate language, and that they appeared to be issued just to dismiss the importance of the PEP vote.  Even the Chancellor said at the PEP meeting that their vote didn’t matter.

Dantowitz said their vote did matter, and that groups like Class Size Matters had put out messages about the budget cuts before both the City Council and the PEP votes, and these bodies had still voted to approve the budget.  A vote is necessary eventually from the PEP, he said, because the Emergency Declaration only lasts so long. (60 days I believe). 

The Judge pointed out that the Council could have voted after the June 23 PEP meeting, but Dantowitz claimed that was too late for schools to start planning for next year.   He added that a tremendous number of issues need to be negotiated with the Council (which doesn’t explain why they seemed to rush the vote earlier than the June 30 deadline).  He pointed out that the budget had been “overwhelmingly adopted” by the Council and read out a quote from the Speaker attesting at the time to how wonderful the final budget was.

He also cited a NY Post article, that reported how budget had been held up for a few days because of the proposed budget cuts to schools, and that we have to look at the budget in its entirety, and not just the education budget.

Laura said that if the education budget had been posted online and presented for public comment on April 26, the same day as the Executive budget was released, there would have been 45 days of comment and still voted  before the City Council voted on June 13.  (In my affidavit, I pointed out this could have been happened by June 10.) .  Or, she said, the Chancellor could have called an Emergency vote of the PEP as Chancellor Klein did in 2009 when the Council was about to vote on the budget before the PEP, and then-Manhattan PEP member Patrick Sullivan alerted the DOE to the fact that this was illegal.  (For more on Patrick’s central role in the genesis of the current case, see today’s Daily News.)

This idea seemed to resonate with the Judge, who repeated that the Council did not have the benefit of hearing from the 70 people who spoke out against  the budget cuts at the PEP meeting on June 23.

Dantowitz kept on saying that it was “pure speculation” that the Council would have voted differently, but the Judge seemed to lose patience with that argument. 

Judge Frank said that next question is, assuming the process was “kaput”,  can I tell the Council to revote, or does that violate the separation of powers?  Arthur and Laura cited past cases when the Court has instructed the other branches of government what to do when they flouted state law or the constitution.

Laura stood up and pointed out that  41 of 50 Council members signed a letter that they regretted their vote and were not told about the impact of these cuts.  Many have since said they were misled by DOE who insisted that only unfilled position would be eliminated as a result, but now we know that at least 700 teachers have been excessed.  This is “material misrepresentation,” as she put it.  The Judge said he would consider whether to instruct the Council to revote, or instead allow them the opportunity to do so.

The City’s attorney got very upset as it was becoming clear that he was losing his case, at least as far as Judge Frank was concerned.  He said, “I don’t want…” and the Judge interrupted, “I know you don’t want any of it.”  

 Then the discussion became what the Preliminary Injunction would say, would it be based on the previous TRO that said last year’s budget would be in place until the Council revoted, or something else?

As far as returning to last year’s budget, the city’s attorney said,  “That ship has left the port.  Plans are being made, goods ordered, to revert to last year’s budget would be detrimental.”  He argued that the plaintiffs should have filed the case on June 13, as soon as the Council vote happened.  “Relief is inappropriate; we ask that the preliminary injunction be denied.”

Laura said that even as late as last night, the DOE added money to school budgets by allowing them to repurpose $100 million in recovery funds that now could be used for teacher salaries, and quoted from a press statement from the Speaker, that this $100 million offer was “inadequate and  misleading.”  The City’s attorney insisted that was “not new money, but they were simply robbing Peter to pay Paul” (something I tweeted critically last night!)  He offered to have the City agree to carry out the budget process properly in future years, as long as there didn’t have to be a Council revote this time.

 Dantowitz also claimed that the DOE budget couldn’t be invalidated without invalidating the entire city budget at the same time (which is absurd.).  He muttered something about the need to balance the entire budget etc.  Laura pointed out that there are billions of dollars in the city’s reserve as well as unspent education funds from last year, according to the Comptroller.

Finally , the Judge asked both sides to prepare papers on how the preliminary injunction should be written.  The city's attorneys have till the end of  today; the plaintiff’s attorneys have until the middle of day Friday.  He said he would issue his decision by the end of day on Friday.  

I hope the City doesn't appeal which would drag out the process even longer, as Laura says below.

Lawsuit and rally to restore the budget cuts to schools; this Thursday August 4 starting at 9:30 AM

The lawsuit to restore the budget cuts to schools and provide the City Council with another vote on the education budget will be heard this Thursday, August 4 at 10 AM in the NY State Supreme Court, 80 Centre St. in Room 308.  Please join us in the courtroom to show your support.

Before the hearing at 9:30 AM, there will be a rally to restore the cuts in Foley Sq., just a block away.  If you join us there, we can walk together to the courthouse at 9:45 AM sharp.

Corey Johnson MIA when parents, teachers and students gathered at his district office, urging him to bring Int. 2374 to a vote.

Please remember to join us at the rally today at 12:30 PM outside City Hall, on Broadway and Murray St.  This is our last chance to get Int 2374, the class size/social distancing bill, submitted, "aged" and voted on next week - the final City Council session until nearly the whole Council turns over.

Yesterday there was a rally at Speaker Corey Johnson's office - lots of parents, kids and teachers showed up to urge him to bring  the bill, to a vote.  But neither Corey nor any of district staff were  there.  Photos  below.
 

Students, Parents, Advocates and Elected Officials Call for Education Justice Budget Accountability from the City Council and Mayor

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6.28.21     

 

Kaliris Salas-Ramirez (ksalasramirez@gmail.com;718-704-7387)

Leonie Haimson (leoniehaimson@gmail.com; 917-435-9329)

Kate McDonough (katem@dignityandrights.org; 917-617-1927)

Zakiyah Ansari (zakiyah@aqeny.org; 917-309-5742)

 

NEW YORK, N.Y. (June 28, 2021) — As Mayor de Blasio and the New York City Council enter the final days of negotiating a city budget that will greatly impact New York City’s education system, state legislators and education justice advocates gathered today at City Hall to demand that the city invest in an education budget that truly supports the well being of students and school communities. 

  

The 2021-22 school will kick off with a record high number of new resources for students in New York City. This includes $7 billion in one time funding from the federal stimulus to help students and schools recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. And New York State will be investing $1 billion in state funds to New York City public schools over the next 3 years as it fully funds the state’s Foundation Aid formula.

 

The Mayor’s proposed education budget falls painfully short and does not deliver on education justice. In a time when we are healing from the collective trauma of the pandemic in a city that never truly funded public schools, students, parents, educators, advocates and elected officials stand united in the call for a just and accountable education budget. 

Among the attendees of today’s press conference were State Legislators Senator Robert Jackson, Assemblymember Jessica Gonzales Rojas, Senator Jabari Brisport, Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and Assemblymember Amanda Septimo; as well as organizations including the Alliance for Quality Education, Community Education Council D4, PRESS NYC, Education Council Consortium, Coalition for Educational Justice, Coalition for Asian American Families and Children, New Settlement Parent Action Committee, New Yorkers for Racially Just Public Schools, Class Size Matters, Advocates forChildren, New York Immigration Coalition, Dignity in Schools Campaign-NY, EduColor, NYC Opt Out and the Coalition for Community School Excellence.

Some of things that we want to highlight from our proposed budget:

• $445 million: Class size, Infrastructure and Tech: We need real investments in infrastructure and technology like: reducing class size, universal broadband and access to technology
• $559 Million: Supportive Schools: We need to immediately remove police from schools and invest in real dollars into Community Schools, Citywide Restorative Justice, Expanding Access to Social Emotional Supports and Librarians. 
• $1 Billion: We need a real investment in Culturally Responsive Education 
• $705 Million: Healthy and Safety Investments: Nurses, COVID Testing/Vaccine Delivery and early screening for dyslexia
• $1,000,000,178: Specialized Support: Devoted resources for Data Disaggregation, Support students with Disabilities, Student in Foster Care, English Language Learners and immigrant families.  
  

"In the recently enacted state budget, we committed the billions required to fully fund CFE requirements over the next 3 years. It was a massive battle to win this money for students. Advocates, parents, teachers, students, and legislators fought for decades to finally push this over the finish line. We've come so far. We need City Hall to ensure that the funding is delivered equitably throughout NYC. Our students deserve the best,” said Senator Jabari Brisport.

“This Spring, we in Albany passed a State budget providing an unprecedented level of support for lower education by providing $3.1 billion in total School Aid, including close to $1.4 billion Foundation Aid increase. Now we need to make sure the City Budget steps up and allocates these funds to decrease class size, offer social emotional support to students, and make sure our schools provide the services necessary for multilingual students to thrive,” said State Senator Brad Hoylman.  

State Senator Robert Jackson said, “Now that we have finally won the full funding of our public schools through the 3-year Foundation Aid phase-in, it’s time to make sure we spend it right. Students, parents, educators, and school community members know best how these funds should be invested—smaller class size, more community schools, citywide restorative justice, culturally responsive and sustaining education, support for our students with disabilities and our English Language Learners, and so much more.” Senator Jackson added,  “With all this funding and all these priorities, accountability will be crucial. I urge my colleagues in the City Council to be proactive about keeping the Mayor and Tweed on track. Rely on the ideas coming out of this strong network of education activists and listen to parents’ and parent leaders’ issues and concerns. Build them into your budget, so the DOE has a roadmap to follow to achieve equity and justice for all students.”

  

"It has taken decades to ensure that the state pays its debts to students across this city, but we finally won that battle this year — securing a commitment to fully fund foundation aid over the next three years. We did not spend every ounce of our energy fighting Governor Cuomo's politics of austerity only to lose the battle for budget justice at City Hall. This is a battle that has ramifications across our city and in the heart of my neighborhood, as the City proposes more than $400,000 in cuts to Long Island City high school — cuts that would pull the rug out from underneath our students who need the most support. In the words of Zone 126 executive director Anju Rupchandani, ‘They are robbing Peter to pay Paul.’ That ain't right and we won't stand for it,” said Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.

  

"New York City public school students have just completed what is likely the most challenging year of their academic careers, with strains on their social-emotional development and physical well-being. The COVID crisis exposed and exacerbated existing inequities across school communities: the students with limited access to support struggled the most to adjust to the new academic landscape. It is vital that in the budget, the City closes the gaps in schools for technology, academic and social-emotional support, smaller class sizes, and specialized supportive services delivered in a culturally sensitive manner. I was proud to fight to pass a New York State Budget that provides full funding for Foundation Aid. The City budget must properly allocate federal and state funds to tackle economic and racial inequalities in the school system," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Social Services. 

“We must continue to move forward on our promise to create a more equitable future for the children of New York City. That means ensuring schools have the immediate funding and resources they need to prosper after the pandemic, as well as the longer-term investments in technology and infrastructure required for continued growth and development,” said Assemblymember Amanda Septimo. “I proudly stand with my fellow state legislators and education justice advocates today to demand a more just and accountable education budget for NYC schools”.

Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters said, “Smaller classes have been the top priority of parents on the DOE’s own surveys, and will be needed next year more than ever before, given the requirement for social distancing and the close academic and motional support students will need after a year and a half of remote learning. The Mayor has long promised to lower class size once our schools receive full funding from the CFE lawsuit.  Now that our city has that funding, he has no excuses left to deny our kids the smaller classes they need and deserve.”

“The City this week will pass a budget that will affect New Yorkers during these uncertain times of a pandemic,” said Jolie Santiago, youth leader with Make the Road New York and Dignity in Schools Campaign - NY. “As a student in a NYC public high school I want to make sure the budget reflects our demands to fully fund restorative justice, provide funding to expand social and emotional support and to divest from school policing by rejecting any new school safety agent hires.” 

“Young people need the wraparound services provided by Community Schools this year more than ever. Community schools disrupt the oppressive patterns of systemic racism that perpetuate de-prioritization and underinvestment in economically distressed communities. They level the playing field so that all children in NYC can have a better chance to thrive and succeed. We are thrilled to see such a historic investment in community schools being made by NYC, and the Coalition for Community Schools Excellence is urging sustainability and sufficient funding of the initiative now and going forward to support the expansion,” said Terrence Winston from Coalition for Community Schools Excellence.

"Although NYC and NYS are rapidly reopening; many NYC students and their families are still experiencing lack of support and services resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic  We appreciate the NYS legislators voting to fully fund 100% NYC schools and the federal stimulus for the DOE but the real investments are not in their plan: CRE, Language Justice, Restorative Justice, Community Schools, Social Workers, Family and Community Engagement and Healing Centered Schools. Now is the time Leave no gap unaddressed,” said Amy Tsai, New Settlement's Parent Action Committee.

"With the DOE receiving $7 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding, the Mayor and City Council must deliver on a budget that invests in effective academic and social-emotional support, including specialized support for students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and students who are homeless, in foster care, or in juvenile detention who were among the students hardest hit by the educational disruption of the past 15 months,” said Randi Levine, Policy Director, Advocates for Children of New York.

“Budgets are a reflection of values. Right now the city is signaling that they value policing over the wellbeing of our students,” said Kate McDonough, Director Dignity in Schools Campaign NY. “We have the money, now is the time to fully fund restorative justice, expand social and emotional support and to create police free schools.”

“Budgets reflect priorities and values. This year’s budget must prioritize the needs of ELLs, students in temporary housing, and students with disabilities, who have long not been prioritized, but even more so in the past 18 months. What do they need? Smaller classes, culturally responsive leadership, pedagogy, and curriculum, tech equity and truly safe, healing centered school spaces. All students will benefit from being known by teachers, having their schools be humane, and their cultures and their friends' cultures included in their school experience. We shouldn’t have to ask for what is logically what the budget should be about. If you truly listen to Black, Latinx and immigrant families, families with students with disabilities, you will KNOW what we need to see in the budget,” said Dr. Kaliris Salas, steering committee member PRESS NYC and president of CEC4.   

“When it considers the DOE budget, we challenge the city to center children’s needs first. Children need the services provided by social workers, nurses, librarians. They need access to technology and well ventilated buildings; curriculum that sustains and motivates; approaches to teaching and learning that stimulate curiosity, collaboration, and exploration. Standardized testing, whether high-stakes or “dipstick,” does not center children’s needs in these ways, and yet the existing budget proposal would squander nearly half a billion dollars for standardized “assessments.” If educators are to truly and holistically determine their students’ needs, they must cultivate trusting relationships--cue smaller class sizes--and be free to draw on their professional expertise. Spending hundreds of millions to dole out Scantron sheets or to park students in front of computers where they follow the prompts of generic and, too often, shoddy software programs may help bureaucrats populate spreadsheets, but does little for the advancement of individual children,” said Kemala Karmen, parent, co-founder NYC Opt Out.

We all demand budget justice, as we fight for our city! 

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