Mayor’s
Budget Would Slow City Spending on Schools
From
the New York City Independent Budget Office
After
four years of increasing city funding for the Board of Education
(BOE), the Mayor’s Executive Budget for fiscal year 2002 would
hold city funding essentially flat. The Budget increases city
funds for the BOE by less than one percent above the current level—to
$34 million. Over the past four years, increases have averaged
11 percent.
Because of restrictions on how some of the money is to be spent,
this slight increase actually results in a $141 million decrease
in city funds immediately available to the school system. The
Mayor would hold $85 million in escrow outside the BOE budget,
subject to his control, and would reserve $284 million in city
funds for BOE collective bargaining needs—$90 million more than
in the 2001 budget. These constraints on city funding are compounded
by the Administration’s proposal to set aside $183 million in
2002 state aid for prospective labor settlements with the teachers
and other unionized BOE employees.
Because the State budget for 2002 is already late (the statutory
deadline was April 1), the city must forecast the level of state
aid when preparing its own spending plans. Thus, the Executive
Budget assumes a $253 million increase in state funding for BOE,
representing a 4.8 percent boost over 2001. While it seems reasonable
to assume that State aid will rise given the legislature’s desire
to increase support for education across the state, it is not
at all certain that the bulk of the increase will occur in unrestricted
school district operating aid. If the state provides less than
$183 million in new unrestricted aid—directing increased state
aid into categorical programs such as class size reduction instead—then
BOE would have to trim spending in other areas to pay for the
labor settlements.
Privatization Pressure
The Executive Budget proposes taking $80 million from the BOE
budget and placing it in the escrow account until the Board signs
contracts with private educational companies to manage some failing
schools. This initiative seeks to pressure BOE to contract with
these firms. The $80 million transfer sets aside an amount equal
to 12 percent of the instructional budget for 98 low-performing
schools. The Board recently attempted to convert five low-performing
schools into privately managed charter schools, but parents at
each of the schools defeated the plan.
New Programs, No New Funds
As has been the case in recent years, the Mayor’s proposed budget
includes new initiatives to increase instructional time and enhance
school safety. This year’s include Saturday classes for English
Language Learners and students preparing for Regents science exams;
summer classes for 50,000 additional students; hiring 800 school
safety agents; purchasing 300 library books for each elementary
and middle school classroom; and adding teachers to work with
students serving in-school suspensions.
What is different this year is that there are no new city funds
to pay for these programs. Instead, the Administration proposes
using most of the $88 million per year that was removed from the
Board’s budget last June and placed in a special escrow account.
The Administration originally created the escrow account in an
effort to compel the Board to downsize its central offices and
redirect resources to instruction. Since then the Chancellor has
detailed administrative cost reductions of $9 million in 2001
and $13 million in 2002. The city has agreed to return the entire
$88 million to BOE in 2001, and the Executive Budget would return
$83 million in 2002, and $67 million a year in 2003, 2004, and
2005 to help fund this year’s new initiatives.
The rest of the funds for the new programs would come from two
other sources. The city would rescind a planned $20 million per
year increase in spending for physical education and athletics
that was originally funded in the city financial plan two years
ago. In addition, the city expects BOE to allocate $19 million
per year of the anticipated increase in state aid (above and beyond
the amounts reserved for collective bargaining) to cover half
the cost of the in-school suspension centers.
For
more information about education funding, contact Robert Weiner
at 212-442-0332 or email robertw@ibo.nyc.ny.us. This article was
excerpted from the IBO’s “Inside the Budget” (May 15) available
at www.ibo.nyc.ny.us.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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