(Holy Crap - it's August - time to get out the winter clothes.)
With the issue of going back to school at the top of the heap, the budget crisis has dropped to 2nd or 3rd place. Ross Barkan's important commentary (in yellow) on Cuomo and the budget caught my eye and is an interesting read (Subscribe ) -- my comments in black):
Last week, NY1 reported that Cuomo had quietly nominated three close allies to the Financial Control Board.....The FCB took over our finances in the 70s for a decade and dictated cuts that keeps politicians out of it--- that keeps De Blasio out of it so whatever
deals with the UFT would be off.
Cuomo is currently laying the trap for severe cuts in the coming months, tying all the state’s hopes of salvation to federal aid. It’s a deeply cynical ploy; like the 1970s, there is a Republican administration in Washington hostile to New York....Oh boy is he. I bet charters get their dough. Can he cut AND support the safety measures needed to open schools? I'm betting not. He won't risk taking NY backwards on the virus - he's making his political bones on not letting the monster back in.
I can imagine some day care system but risk opening schools?
But if teachers get their wish and he doesn't open schools - taking away the argument for more personnel to run safe schools - watch the ax come down hard. At the end of the pandemic, with people leaving the city and others the public schools and finding alternatives to day care --- well I would bet on lots of those small schools disappearing or getting consolidated. The idea of 1800 schools has always been ridiculous. All those principals retiring? No problem -- cut to 1000 schools.
(Could they try to split people by offering some bonuses to teachers who volunteer to go in? Or that some teachers will take it? Don't be shocked at anything.)
A reasonable executive, in the interim, would seek to keep New York afloat without resorting to self-destructive austerity measures. But that does not describe Andrew Cuomo. His budget director, former State Senate Republican staffer Robert Mujica, is effectively the most powerful man in the state outside of Cuomo, tasked with detailing whatever deep cuts to localities the governor deems fit. It’s only a matter of time, after Republicans snub New York, that Mujica begins telling the state legislature how much public school, hospital, transportation, and social service aid will disappear. Thanks to new powers won when the state budget was passed in April, Cuomo is permitted to make rolling cuts throughout 2020 as revenue dries up.I'm back.
Back in May I wrote about the 1975 financial crisis and its impact over a decade or more with a particular emphasis on how public education suffered an overwhelming hit with 13,000 layoffs even after a teacher strike despite the Taylor Law (we all paid two for one fines and technically lost tenure for a year). The Coming Crisis to NYC Education - 1975 to 2020 - Part 3 This is not the best of times - What Will Be Won't Be - Part 3
- Shades of 1975 - Part 1 - The Coming Crisis for NYC Teachers and Students - the Plague is not the only problem
- Shades of 1975 - Part 2: The Noblest Strike of Them All, I Run for UFT Delegate and am attacked for my politics
I wrote about that the other day:
Is the National Day of Action for Safe Schools (Aug. 3) a Precursor to a Nationwide Teacher Strike?
James touches on the strike issue on the
While the back to school story plays out daily with teachers and many parents making it clear they do not want to go back into schools and everyone giving the blended learning idea an F, lots of other issues get put on the table that have long term negative impact on public ed.
- Parents forming private pods outside the public schools -- home schooling on steroids.
- The idea being argued by some teachers that Zoom type learning can really work -- that's like sending a message that ultimately we are non-essential and giving distance learning a big boost - and remember, if they can do this without school buildings they can save enormous money - and maybe pay fewer teachers a lot of money to take on bigger loads. (Reminds me of my idea years ago to use Yankee Stadium and the jumbo scoreboard and have Class sizes of 50,000.)
....it will up to the emboldened left in New York to mobilize against Cuomo’s worst intentions and resist another replay of 1970s neoliberalism. Cuomo is more committed to the program than Carey ever was, and the competence of those around him—Cuomo aides are rewarded far more for sycophancy than any native ability—is much more questionable.Is there a resurgent left in the UFT? Or will Mulgrew get a message of militancy that goes beyond rhetoric? James feels he is feeling the pressure and moving away from support for the de Blasio/ Caranza plan. A key issue is lack of trust of the DOE and the UFT leaders by many members. Mulgrew could capture the moment if he has the chops. I'm not confident he does.
I have lots more to say ---- so come back soon - or subscribe to this blog (upper left hand corner) and get updates every time I upchuck an article.
Read Ross below:
Is New York Going Back to the 1970s?
Nearly a half century later, there are disturbing echoes of a decade that almost doomed New York City. But there are real differences too.
https://rossbarkan.substack.com/p/is-new-york-going-back-to-the-1970s