The mayor's unconscionable cuts and where the money could be found
Check our NYC Council testimony about the unconscionable budget cuts that the mayor has proposed that would led to the elimination of 6,000 teaching positions and the sharpest increases in class size in over thirty years.
Also see our proposals below where more than $1 billion in funds could be found to prevent these devastating cuts, assembled from suggestions from the Independent Budget Office, the City Council, parents and other advocacy groups, as well as my own. Here they are as a handy pdf.
Options for reducing DoE’s budget without touching the classroom
· $23 million: cancel (or do not renew) contracts w/ McGraw Hill and Scantron for Acuity, or interim assessments. These contracts end in Aug. 2011 and most parents, teachers and even principals think they are worthless.
· $4 million: cut contracts with TFA and New Teacher Project and instead retrain current teachers for