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Court rules budget cuts to NYC public schools can remain in place
By
Jessica Gould
Published Nov 22, 2022
Modified Nov 22, 2022
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Steve Sanchez/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
By
Jessica Gould
Published Nov 22, 2022
Modified Nov 22, 2022
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A New York court ruled on Tuesday that budget cuts to the city’s public schools can remain in place, the latest development a monthslong legal battle over the legality of the funding changes.
The New York Supreme Court of Appeals shot down an August ruling from a lower court that aimed to force the City Council to revote on the schools budget, finding that a new vote would “have a broad unsettling effect on the DOE’s operations and be detrimental to students and teachers alike."
The appeals court agreed with teachers and parents who sued over the changes that the process leading up to the city’s budget approval violated the law, but allowed the cuts to move forward regardless.
That means the Department of Education will continue to operate with approximately $375 million less in funding compared to last year — which has already led to problems for schools across the five boroughs.
“It’s a nothingburger,” said attorney Laura Barbieri, who represented plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She said the group could appeal the court's decision.
The budget cuts ignited a firestorm of anger and protests among parents and educators last summer. City officials at the time said the budget cuts were necessary to reflect declining enrollment at many schools. Recent enrollment data shows the public school system lost 36,000 students between the school years ending in 2021 and 2022, and then lost another 16,000 students going into this fall.
As a result of the cuts, many principals were forced to cut arts programs and combine classes. But outraged parents and educators argued the city could use federal stimulus money to keep school budgets whole.
"Without a restored budget, my daughters will continue to lack art and music in their schools, and the school at which I worked for 13-plus years will continue to lack a full-time music instructor,” said Paul Trust, a plaintiff in the case who lost his job as a music teacher in Park Slope last summer. He's since found a job at another school.
“If there is a silver lining, I am hoping that going forward more attention will be given to the school budget process in general," Trust said.
As parents dogged the mayor at public events over the summer, the plaintiffs sought to challenge the budget on legal grounds, noting that the Adams administration broke the law by avoiding a vote by the oversight body called the Panel for Educational Policy before submitting it to the City Council for approval.
Thomas Sheppard, a representative on the Panel for Educational Policy, said the court's ruling "sends the message to the city that there are no consequences for actions that violate the law."
After voting for the budget as a whole, some councilmembers accused the administration of misleading them about the scope of the cuts to schools and said they regretted their votes.
Over the summer, some schools were able to recoup a portion of the funding cuts by showing their enrollment exceeded projections. The Adams administration also announced this month that schools with lower-than-expected enrollment this fall would not face additional cuts this year.
In response to Tuesday's court ruling, Schools Chancellor David Banks said the city "will continue to manage our school budgets equitably and efficiently to uplift every child in NYC Public Schools.”
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that the legal battle on the city's cuts to public school budgets is ongoing.
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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