$129 Million will go Directly to Classrooms New Initiatives will Target Middle Schools, English Language Learners, Class Size Reduction

Speaker Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg Announce Council Restoration of Classroom Funds $129 Million will go Directly to Classrooms New Initiatives will Target Middle Schools, English Language Learners, Class Size Reduction
City Hall – Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the restoration of $129 million in funding to New York City’s classrooms. This Council funding represents a full restoration of cuts in the preliminary school budgets released by the Department of Education (DOE) in May.

As a result, all New York City public schools will open in September with at least the same amount of classroom funding as they had when they closed this week, excluding normal funding fluctuations based on changing enrollment and similar factors. Additionally, when taken in conjunction with State funding, many schools’ overall budgets will actually increase. This funding will also become part of schools’ baseline budgets, making it less subject to future cuts.

In her remarks at a Crain’s Business Breakfast Forum in May, Speaker Quinn called for restoration of classroom budgets, and spent the last five weeks working closely with the Council’s Budget Negotiating Team and the Administration to find ways to protect those funds.

“Even in the toughest financial times, New York City cannot afford to reduce our commitment to education * especially when our schools are finally moving in the right direction,” said Speaker Quinn. “Last month the City Council made a promise to restore as much funding to our classrooms as we possibly could. Today we live up to that promise, eliminating $129 million in cuts that would have been devastating for teachers and students around the city.”

“The Council was able to Keep the Promise to New York City’s children, by working together with the Mayor to restore the proposed education cuts to the classroom – cuts that would have had a negative effect on our City’s kids,” said Council Finance Chair David Weprin.

Middle Schools and English Language Learners

Speaker Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg also announced the creation of two new Department of Education (DOE) funding initiatives. The first is a $12 million Middle School incentive grant program, for which 200 of the city’s highest need middle schools will be eligible.

This new funding will allow participating schools to choose from a menu of recommendations framed by the DOE’s Middle School Success Plan, including items suggested by the City Council’s Middle School Task Force, the Coalition for Educational Justice, and the DOE’s Middle School Advisory Panel. Participating schools will be required to match grants with equal funding from their own budgets, to ensure that schools are investing fully in the kinds of tested initiatives recommended by the three groups.

Last year, the Council and Mayor Bloomberg created a $5 million fund allowing 51 high need middle schools to implement the Council’s Middle Schools Task Force’s recommendations. This new grant program will be a separate stream of funding, and the previously identified 51 middle schools will be encouraged to apply for the new funds as well.

The second initiative is a $7 million fund available to schools that have a large number of high need English Language Learner (ELL) students. Elementary, middle and high schools will all have an opportunity to apply for the funding, which can be used to implement recommendations from the New York Immigration Coalition and the DOE’s Language Allocation policy. Schools qualifying for this funding will be required to provide a 2:1 match for their chosen programs.

The DOE has committed to conducting evaluations of both programs, and making sure that schools are held accountable for their results. In addition, they will be providing detailed information about spending on all ELL programs.

Class Size Reduction and Contracts for Excellence

The Council and the DOE have also agreed to increase class size reduction efforts, particularly at high need schools currently operating at less than 100 percent capacity. The DOE will also maintain and extend their enhanced class size reporting.

Finally, the DOE has agreed to make publicly available all their reports to the State Department of Education on the use of C4E funds, and will put out three additional reports on C4E initiatives each year.

###