Mayor Adams Ed Budget Crisis - City takes multiple hit(s) in court, Successful Rally at Foley Sq, UFT Officialdom makes token showing

Chaos, chaos, and more chaos due to the Adams/Banks school admin. Let's drive more people away from the public schools and create the drive more more charters.

• Rally Aug 4, Lies, Lies and More Lies - Adams/Banks School Chaos Makes us wish for DeBlasio - NYC DOE Budget Cut Fight Back - Rallies, Surveys

Breaking - 10:45 AM - Aug. 5, 2022 -- Judge rules do-over for city council vote on school budget cuts.

• 41 of 50 Council members signed a letter that they regretted their vote and were not told about the impact of these cuts.  Many have since said they were misled by DOE who insisted that only unfilled position would be eliminated as a result, but now we know that at least 700 teachers have been excessed.

Oh, where to begin? The court case? The rally beforehand? The tepid UFT support ?- they sent a dozen staffers with little blue signs -- there were more MOREs there - Imagine - the UFT/Unity leadership should have been able to send a message to Adams by putting thousands on the streets. This crowd is not due to the actions of the UFT but if the teacher rank and file, parents and community.

leonie haimson

@leoniehaimson

The City is effing nuts -- pretending they won the case. Ignored Judge's request for language for prelim injunction; instead they will consider modifying budget in Nov., but even then might have to make more cuts to move money around! Ignore reality & maybe it'll go away? Bizarro

Here is Leonie's account of the win in court yesterday.

What a morning!  First there a huge rally at Foley Square, with parents, teachers and advocates inveighing against the grotesque budget cuts to schools.  Tamara Tucker, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against these cuts, spoke first, and her photo at the microphone is above.

Tamara and I left the rally at about 9:40 AM, and quickly walked over to the courtroom at the NY State Supreme Court, 80 Centre St., room 308 so as not to miss our chance to witness the oral arguments in the case before Judge Frank.  The courtroom was already half full, mostly with reporters and city attorneys, and soon would fill up completely before the hearing started.

Among the parents I noticed aside from Tamara were Tom Shepherd and Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, two PEP members, and NeQuan McLean, CEC16 President.  Tom and NeQuan had also provided us with affidavits about how the public process in adopting the budget had been contrary to what’s required by state law.

Read it all at:https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2022/08/nyc-parents-teachers-and-kids-win-in.html

UFT Middle School VP Rich Mantel

The judge's ruling means that last years budget stays in place until the city council votes a new education budget except the DOE can add to the budget for dyslexia program or from federal funds.

Lawyers put in their proposals to judge

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DaniThe judge had given them the evening to propose language and considerations for his final edict today

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Daniel

City lawyers acted like they had won and wanted judge to do their own plan

It means that the 2022 budget is effective until a new budget properly goes through PEP AND CITY

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Daniel

That will likely mean an expedited deal between Mayor and CC with a lot more funding then the votes

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Daniel

Good afternoon -- It's Friday, Aug. 5

I'm not big on going to rallies and demos, but yesterday I was pissed off enough at the actions of the pathetic Adams/Banks admin re the cuts to schools that I woke up early enough to catch an 8:15 ferry into the city on a very hot day for old folks like me. But I was so glad I did.

There is no question that Leonie Haimson was a major driver in putting this lawsuit together with AQE and other groups. The UFT? Hangers on. They put no or no skin in the game. I saw a bunch of staffers there. Here is a UFT VP who looks pained at hearing a MORE member speak.

Is Rich Mantel giving Jia the evil eye? 
Maybe it's the sun.

But let's look at the positive side. Still looking. No, actually, the street action, court case and social media response shows you can fight city hall. 

There are two interesting factors working here. The City Council and the Panel for Educational Policy, both of which need to be involved in the school budget. We know Adams has loaded the PEP with pro charter slime. The Council voted overwhelmingly for the cuts and Judge Frank, who also ruled for us in the MulgrewCare case, is forcing a do-over.

A few of us tried to find the court after the rally but heard it was full so I headed back to Rockaway, catching the 12:15 ferry back. It was worth it because of the people I knew and got to hang out with a bit. I spent some time with one of my favorite oppo people who shall remain nameless since there are many in the UFT who do not love her. I do. One of the most interesting people I've come across recently. As I always say, being active has opened up many contacts and friendships - a guy my age get the chance to hang out a bit with people half and a third my age. Not a bad gig.

Did I report on the Galaxy fiasco where Banks cancelled and then uncancelled access when principals started screaming?  I think I did: Adams/Banks School Chaos Makes us wish for DeBlasio 

Just a few examples of Adams incompetencies

• NYC plans to end school-based COVID testing program this fall, source says ,” by Chalkbeat’s Alex Zimmerman
• 
  
• How Adams' pals — and a favorite dining spot — link him to one of the state's top tax delinquents , by POLITICO’s Joe Anuta: A restaurateur with deep ties to two of Mayor Eric Adams’ close friends — and a connection to one of his favorite midtown haunts — is among the state’s top tax delinquents with an outstanding tab of more than $1 million. 
• 
  
• Comptroller: At least half of NYC cooling centers were listed as closed during weekend of July heatwave ,” by Gothamist’s Elizabeth Kim

Here are two articles from Politico and the NY Times:

Politico

Amid a raging debate over school budget cuts by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, progressive City Council members have been apologizing for their votes to pass a city spending plan that greenlit them. Well, they just might get a do-over.

A Manhattan judge said Thursday he expects to throw out the city’s school budget, and give the City Council a chance to vote again. The $37.6 billion Department of Education budget would go back to lawmakers for another vote after a group of parents and teachers sued to stop at least $215 million in cuts to individual schools’ budgets, imposed by the Adams administration because of drops in enrollment.

At issue is whether a sharp drop in the number of students attending city public schools since the onset of the pandemic should translate into less cash for each school to hire teachers, buy supplies and so on. Parents, teachers and politicians on the left have been raging against the budget slash, arguing that pandemic-battered schools badly need the money. The administration maintains that it’s only sensible that fewer students would translate into fewer dollars, and that the city doesn’t have an endless supply of federal stimulus cash to go around.

At more technical issue is whether the city violated procedural rules by using an emergency declaration to avoid a vote by an educational panel before the budget went to the City Council for approval. That sort of thing happens all the time, but now that it’s being challenged in court, Judge Lyle Frank said the arrangement doesn’t pass muster in the absence of a true emergency.

The logistics of how this will all play out are quite murky, but it raises the specter of a new budget showdown between Adams and his foes even as students head back to school next month. The Council could potentially vote again to allow the cuts, reject the budget, or come to a deal with the administration. A formal ruling from the judge is expected today.

NYT

Judge Says He Will Toss Out New York City School Budget

After parents and teachers sued, a judge on Thursday said he would give the City Council the chance to revisit the school budget and vote again.

By Colin Moynihan and Lola Fadulu

Aug. 4, 2022

A bitter fight over drastic cuts in school spending made its way into a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, where a judge sided with teachers and parents and said he would cancel the recently adopted Education Department budget.The State Supreme Court judge, Justice Lyle E. Frank, heard from lawyers representing parents and teachers, who have argued that the cuts come at a terrible time for schools trying to recover from the pandemic, and from lawyers for the city, who have argued that New York can’t keep paying for thousands of students who have left its schools.Justice Frank forecast his ruling after an hourlong hearing that focused on whether the budget had been adopted through the proper procedures, agreeing with parents and teachers who contended that the schools chancellor had improperly used an “emergency declaration” at the end of May to delay a public meeting on the budget until after it had been adopted.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/04/nyregion/school-budget-cuts-new-york-city.html