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Budget Info

Board of Ed. Budget Update: $500 Million Budget Gap

The New York City Board of Education (BOE) has $500 million less than it expected to have last April when this school year’s budget was approved. The Adopted Budget for the 2001-02 school year was approximately $11.5 billion. However, recent events including the passage of the state budget and the City cuts due to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster have created shortfalls in the budget. These developments leave the Board with $11 billion to cover services that cost the board $11.6 billion to deliver in the last school year.

What Happened?
Three major events have negatively impacted the BOE’s budget for this school year.

• Mayor’s 2.5 Percent Cut following the WTC Attack

• The Anticipated State Aid that was Not There

• Labor Reserve Set Aside

How will the Board Absorb the Cuts?

BOE Chief Financial Officer Beverly Donohue has reported to EPP that the Board is taking action to manage the budget shortfall. The Board is focusing on "regulatory relief and funding flexibility" to keep cuts out of the classroom, according to Donohue. Here are some of the cuts the Board has taken to manage the budget gap:

• $100 million from administrative and purchasing costs;
• $150 million from community school district (CSD) and school costs;
• $40 million in deferrals of new programs announced by the City last January that are no longer feasible;
• and, the Board is discussing the Mayor’s $113 million cut with the City and the State in an effort to avoid the full 2.5 percent cut.

How Exactly Does this Affect Students?

The $150 million cut to community school districts and schools and the $40 million of deferrals of new programs has affected students differently depending on their school and their district. The Central Board had given CSDs discretion in where they make the cuts, and some superintendents have let principals decide which programs to cut or eliminate. Examples of district and school cuts that have been reported to the Board include the following:

• $29 million from academic and recreational after-school programs;
• $33 million from supervisory costs for supervisory teachers and students;
• $60 million from supplies and equipment;
• $19 million from class size reduction (from expansion of the program);
• $12 million from professional development; and,
• $28 million from school program support and services of all kinds.

There is no money for many new initiatives that the Board had planned to implement this year. These initiatives include programs targeting math instruction, intensified services to English Language Learners, middle school achievement, overcrowding, and other initiatives.

The Big Picture

The budget adopted last spring was a disappointment for education advocates in New York City. The dire situation was then exacerbated by the passage of the state budget and the tragic events of September 11 and the cuts and shortfalls that followed. The result is that the Board now has $500 million less than it expected to have to deliver services to students this school year.

As we move further into a nationwide economic recession, it is likely that there will be more damaging cuts. And as the cuts become more severe, the increasingly more stringent high-stakes exams and Regents standards are being phased in as a requirement for high school graduation in New York State. Advocates are going to have to mobilize and work harder then ever to ensure that the resources are available to ensure that every child has a chance to achieve and to succeed.

What You Can Do Now!

When the city budget was adopted in June, $80 million was transferred from the Board of Education’s units of appropriation for instruction to the "Miscellaneous" budget, which is under the Mayor’s control. There was supposed to be a memorandum of agreement about the use of this money (it was supposed to go to low-performing schools), but no MOU was signed. These funds are still not now available to schools to spend. They are, however, available and earmarked in the Miscellaneous Budget and can be restored to schools without increasing the City's budget gap.

Unless this money is returned to the programs from which it was removed, the school system will be forced to cut an additional $80 million in services to children in the current school year. New Yorkers should contact their City Councilmembers immediately to urge them to take action to resolve this outstanding issue.

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