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De Blasio: Cuomo Is Screwing NYC Schools Out Of $2.6 Billion
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 9, 2015
Modified Mar 9, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 9, 2015
Modified Mar 9, 2015
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Mayor Bill de Blasio has teamed up with Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miller to call out Governor Andrew Cuomo for not making good on a 2006 decision that determined Albany owed various school districts $5.9 billion. NYC specifically is owed $2.6 billion. De Blasio said in a statement, "For far too long, the State has failed to meet its court-mandated responsibility to provide enough resources to local school districts. "
De Blasio and Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner are working together to draw attention to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision, which they say will "provide the much-needed resources local communities require to implement critical reforms that will turn around struggling schools and best serve our students."
According to the mayors' joint press release, NYC would use the money for things like:
...mental health supports that will keep kids in the classroom; providing extended day learning; creating new CTE and STEM programs so students graduate ready for the jobs of today and tomorrow; expanding summer school opportunities to ensure summer learning loss doesn’t hold back progress, and putting more guidance counselors into schools so students can access critical social and emotional supports.
Albany owes Syracuse $87 million; Miner said, "The City of Syracuse planned to utilize the CFE funds in an innovative way by fully funding the Say Yes to Education program in Syracuse... Syracuse—the first city to implement Say Yes to Education district-wide in the United States—had to retrench and re-plan when NYS failed to meet its Constitutional responsibility."
The Daily News notes, "While it's not uncommon for the state's mayors to take public positions as a group, it is rare for the New York City mayor and a single upstate mayor to issue a joint statement on their own." #YOLO
De Blasio and Miner say that the state has an $8 billion budget—so this is a perfect time to have a frenemy pay up for the future.
Tagged
education
governor cuomo
mayor de blasio
public schools
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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