Budget Info
City Council Education Budget Proposals

April 10, 2003

The New York City Council is asking for an additional $98 million cut to the NYC Department of Education as part of a $480 million "efficiency program" for city agencies. Of $239 million in Council restorations, only $12 million would go to education (not including $613 thousand for crossing guards that would go to the NYPD). One third of the $12 million that would go to cultural institutions for an 8th grade science program.

The news is better on the 2000-04 capital budget (essentially a plan to borrow money for construction projects, much like a home mortgage). No new money is added to the capital budget, but $384 million in capital funds would be reallocated from other agencies to the Department of Education. Of that amount, $75 million would go to capital repairs and $309 million would go to building new schools. Unfortunately, under this plan every borough gets a share of new schools, thus perpetuating severe school overcrowding.

The City Council released this response to the Mayor‚s preliminary budget on April 7th. The timing is important, because the Mayor will present his Executive budget next week. Both budget proposals are aimed at Albany. The City Council asks for a lower tax rate for commuters than the Mayor. This was the focus of most newspaper coverage of the Council's response.

The next week may be crucial for state budget negotiations. A two-way budget (Assembly & Senate) would result in more restorations and new revenue, but carries the risk of insufficient votes to override a Governor's veto. Even in this scenario, there will be education cuts. A three-way budget (which includes the Governor) would mean fewer restorations and, possibly, less new revenue. The safest bet is that any state budget plan for fiscal year 2004 will be a mix of gimmicks, new taxes, and cuts.

Bottom line: The Governor's Executive Budget would have a $753 million impact New York City public schools, the Mayor's Preliminary Budget (and contingency cuts) would have a $509 million impact; and the City Council's addition of a $98 million "savings plan" would bring the total budget impact to over $1.36 billion. These numbers will change next week.

If the economic downturn persists, then the fiscal year 2003-04 budget will keep on changing throughout the year. If this is just too much bad news to absorb, it is wise to remember that a "cut" may not be an actual decrease in funds, but may represent less funding than needed to maintain current operations. A good example of a cut is when your salary increases, but enough to cover the difference between your old and new, higher rent. This may result in less meals in restaurants. Cuts in government budgets, however, often result in the elimination of programs. For example, the Governor wants to eliminate all funding for smaller class size in the early grades and pre-K programs.

Additional Information

The NYC Council's savings program for the Department of Education includes $25 million through streamlining the special education evaluation process, some of which would require court approval, and $8 million through the adoption of electronic "case folders" to track special education students. The remaining reduction would come from $5 million in energy savings and $60 million in contract savings (many of them proposed by DC 37‚s union members).

The Council's restorations provide $8 million in funding to employ 130 "early intervention coaches" to work with K-3 teachers. At a salary of $60,000 each, these trained special education teachers would help teachers analyze ECLAS test scores and other assessments and then develop modified instruction and a related services plans for students at risk of referral to special education. The salary estimate, which includes benefits, appears to be too low. Our other concern is whether there are enough teachers with the background to be early intervention experts. On the other hand, this is a prevention program at the earliest grades that might work.

The other initiative, funded at $4 million in 2004-03 and $7 million in 2004-05, is an attempt to address the crisis of woefully inadequate science labs and inadequately trained science teachers at the middle school level. Cultural institutions would be given this funding in order to enable 71,000 8th graders to make 2 class trips and 2 individual visits to participating institutions. These institutions would provide specially prepared materials and some after-school and enrichment programs. This "Urban Advantage" program would provide students with access to world-class institutions. But would these activities be enough to help students do better on their "exit project" and the state science test, which now includes a one-hour lab examination?