NYC Teachers Union sues Mayor Adams over deep school budget cuts
Ongoing Battle Over NYC Public School Budget Cuts
OAN’s Brooke Mallory
12:58 PM – Friday, December 22, 2023
The New York City Teachers Union is taking legal action to prevent the implementation of the city’s public school budget cuts. They argue that Mayor Eric Adams’ proposed cuts would undermine important education initiatives, hinder teacher incentives, and violate state law.
However, Mayor Adams (D-N.Y.) has been advocating for budget cuts for months, citing the increasing expenses related to New York’s immigration issue.
This includes a significant $550 million reduction in education funding.
In a state court case, the United Federation of Teachers accused the mayor of fabricating the city’s financial problems to justify an unjust and illegal “blunt austerity measure.”
The lawsuit is based on a state statute that limits the city’s ability to cut education spending unless overall revenues decrease. It argues that the mid-year education cuts, which would disproportionately affect special needs students, universal pre-kindergarten, and after-school programs, are unlawful because the city’s income projections for this fiscal year were exceeded.
“This is going to become difficult and ugly,” asserted UFT President Michael Mulgrew on Thursday. “We have never had an administration try to cut their schools when they have historic reserves and their revenues are all up.”
In addition to education cuts, other municipal services will also be affected, including reduced hours at public libraries, elimination of parks and sanitation programs, and a freeze on police recruiting.
With crime rates on the rise and increasing chaos related to asylum seekers in the city, informed New Yorkers are expressing their dissatisfaction with the mayor’s announcement. His popularity has reached an all-time low since taking office over two years ago.
To prevent the layoffs, the largest public sector union in the city, DC 37, is also suing the mayor separately.
Mayor Adams attempted to downplay the cases at a press conference on Thursday, emphasizing his close ties to the two political unions.
“From time to time, friends disagree,” Adams said. “Sometimes it ends up in a boardroom and sometimes it ends up in a courtroom.”
Despite acknowledging that the cuts would cause “extreme pain to New Yorkers,” Adams urged citizens to demand more assistance from the White House in handling the immigration situation.
He also warned that even more drastic cuts would be necessary to address the projected $7 billion budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year.
However, a recent report from the Independent Budget Office suggests that the city’s financial situation may not be as dire as the mayor has portrayed. The report projected a $3.6 billion budget surplus by the end of the fiscal year in June, resulting in a more manageable budget shortfall of $1.8 billion the following year.
The teachers union cites this estimate as evidence that Adams’ assessment of the city’s financial situation is unfounded and baseless.
“The Mayor’s recent actions,” the suit states, “are driven more by a ‘crisis’ of budget management, leadership, and problem-solving, as opposed to an influx of migrants to New York.”
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Some of the Americans freed in the prisoner swap with Venezuela are back on U.S. soil.
Since the start of December, Customs and Border Patrol has reportedly encountered more than 200,000 migrants at the Southern Border.
Fallout continues from the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove 45th President Donald Trump from the ballot. Article Three Project founder Mike Davis highlights that among many things the decision violated President Trump’s due process rights.
Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz says he believes that the U.S. Supreme Court will act quickly on 45th President Donald Trump’s imminent appeal.
December 22, 2023 – 6:05 AM PST HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese regulators announced on Friday a wide range of rules aimed…
One of the main bottlenecks for Tesla is the speed it can make the 4680 batteries used in the Cybertruck with its new dry-coating technology.
A group of 11 nonfiction authors have joined a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court that accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of misusing books the authors have written to train their models.
San Francisco police Sergeant David Radford contacted Tesla about data on an alleged stalker’s remote access to a vehicle.
rnrn
According to Mayor Adams, what is the primary reason for implementing budget cuts to public schools?
Ongoing Battle Over NYC Public School Budget Cuts
By Brooke Mallory – 12:58 PM – Friday, December 22, 2023
The New York City Teachers Union is currently engaged in a legal battle to prevent the implementation of budget cuts to the city’s public schools. They argue that these proposed cuts, put forth by Mayor Eric Adams, would undermine important education initiatives, hinder teacher incentives, and violate state law.
However, Mayor Adams, who belongs to the Democratic Party, has been advocating for budget cuts for several months now. He cites the increasing expenses associated with New York’s immigration issue as the primary reason for these cuts, including a significant reduction of $550 million in education funding.
In response, the United Federation of Teachers has filed a lawsuit in state court, accusing the mayor of fabricating the city’s financial problems to justify an unjust and illegal ”blunt austerity measure.” The lawsuit is based on a state statute that limits the city’s ability to cut education spending unless overall revenues decrease. It argues that the mid-year education cuts, which would disproportionately affect special needs students, universal pre-kindergarten, and after-school programs, are unlawful because the city’s income projections for this fiscal year were exceeded.
“This is going to become difficult and ugly,” asserted UFT President Michael Mulgrew on Thursday. “We have never had an administration try to cut their schools when they have historic reserves and their revenues are all up.”
In addition to education cuts, other municipal services will also be affected, such as reduced hours at public libraries, elimination of parks and sanitation programs, and a freeze on police recruiting.
With crime rates on the rise and increasing chaos related to asylum seekers in the city, informed New Yorkers are expressing their dissatisfaction with the mayor’s announcement. Mayor Adams’ popularity has reached an all-time low since taking office over two years ago.
To prevent the layoffs, the largest public sector union in the city, DC 37, is also suing the mayor separately.
Mayor Adams attempted to downplay the cases at a press conference on Thursday, emphasizing his close ties to the two political unions. “From time to time, friends disagree,” Adams said. “Sometimes it ends up in a boardroom, and sometimes it ends up in a courtroom.”
Despite acknowledging that the cuts would cause “extreme pain to New Yorkers,” Adams urged citizens to demand more assistance from the White House in handling the immigration situation. He also warned that even more drastic cuts would be necessary to address the projected $7 billion budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year.
However, a recent report from the Independent Budget Office suggests that the city’s financial situation may not be as dire as the mayor has portrayed. The report projected a $3.6 billion budget surplus by the end of the fiscal year in June, resulting in a more manageable budget shortfall of $1.8 billion the following year.
The teachers union cites this estimate as evidence that Adams’ assessment of the city’s financial situation is unfounded and baseless.
“The Mayor’s recent actions,” the suit states, “are driven more by a ‘crisis’ of budget management, leadership, and problem-solving, as opposed to an influx of migrants to New York.”
It remains to be seen how this ongoing battle over the NYC public school budget cuts will ultimately be resolved. In the meantime, concerned citizens continue to voice their opinions and anxiously await the outcome.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Now loading...