The controversial school funding plan cleared another hurdle when the city’s school board resolved to approve the Ministry of Education’s estimated budget Thursday night.
More than 70 people woke up after 11:00 pm and expressed budget concerns to the Education Policy Committee, which consisted primarily of mayoral appointees.
The speaker lamented that the $ 215 million loss to schools claimed by Mayor Erik Adams was not a reduction, but that the budget would be “appropriately sized” as student enrollment declined.
“This is Doublespeak. It seems that it could come directly from” 1984 “(in the dystopian novel),” said Manhattan’s parent and teacher.
Some families, teachers and supporters were shocked to suggest that voting was only a legally mandated step as the city finalized its budget earlier this year.
“This year’s timing is unusual,” said school director David Banks.
“You haven’t voted to approve the school budget. The city council has already approved it. This is a procedural vote tonight,” he added.
The speaker said that the loss of money to go to school, which Mayor Eric Adams claimed, was not a reduction.
The speaker said that the loss of money to go to school, which Mayor Eric Adams claimed, was not a reduction.
Reuters
The speaker begged panel members to vote against the estimated budget, regardless of whether it could have an immediate impact.
“I wrote down the notes and gave the whole speech, and then I heard that this was procedural,” said the aggravated parent from Manhattan. “I feel very insulted by it. I don’t know if I wasn’t informed, but why didn’t I have the opportunity to hold this meeting as a parent before voting?”
Even if this is a procedural vote, take the courage to vote against it,” said Martina Meyer, an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn.
The 10-4 vote came after the post reported that the DOE used a controversial budget formula to quietly reduce the amount of money the school would receive for each student next year.
“I’ve heard from Mayor Erik Adams that all these reductions are due to lower registrants, but the data don’t show that,” said Mark Gonzalves, parent of Manhattan’s Third District. I called on school officials as part of “concealment”. .. “
“You took part in this scam by being silent when you learned about these budget cuts.”
Mark Gonzalves
“By silence when you learned about these budget cuts, you took part in this scam,” he added.
Under a fair student funding formula, principals get a baseline of at least $ 4,197.19 per general education student and a minimum of $ 25.81 reduction per child.
This number is weighted according to other factors, from disability to learner status, depending on the student’s grade and additional needs, resulting in a trickle-down effect.
Another parent said, “The expected number of registrations is low, not only wrong, but also not transparent. However, the actual amount per student has decreased. This can be seen in the newspaper to this day. did not.”
According to DOE, no budget cuts were seen in about 400 schools.
In recent weeks, the principal has been slapped by a reduction in school budgets of up to millions of dollars after the city began funding admissions for the first time since the pandemic began.
Teacher reports were released from school and the program was significantly reduced quick To Multiply upon Social media It was highlighted in protests outside the school building and the city hall.
According to DOE, about 400 schools did not see budget cuts, while other schools cut key programs such as art education, sports teams and excursions and let go of staff from teachers to coaching counselors. rice field.
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All but one who was not appointed mayor voted against the estimated budget.
“Yes, we knew that a fair student funding formula wasn’t fair, and we were going to work on fixing it,” said Caliris Saras, appointed Mayor of Manhattan.・ Ramirez said. “But when those budgets came out, we didn’t always know what they would look like until the end of the first week of June.”
“Because this conversation wasn’t as transparent as required by law, Manhattan also voted against this estimated budget because it didn’t help support students and teachers during or so far in a pandemic. increase.”
The panel’s chair, Angela Green, said the fair student funding formula would be reviewed in the summer and finalized by the fall. She didn’t provide any additional details.