Putting off the inevitable??

Dear colleagues,

This morning, Mayor Bloomberg has rescinded the teacher layoff notices that were scheduled to go out at the end of this week. We are glad that the mayor has come to understand the gravity of the situation and the enormity of damage that teacher layoffs would have done to our city’s children and our city’s future.

The advocacy of the people in this union, along with our parent and community partners, successfully made the case that schools would be devastated by layoffs.

But let us be clear: Today’s developments do not change the fact that our schools are still facing catastrophic cuts to programs and services that our students depend on.

That’s why we must continue our advocacy on the local, state and federal levels to restore school funding. With the state and city budgets still unfinished and many other city workers and services facing cutbacks, our June 16 rally is as important as ever.

As to the mayor’s statement regarding teacher raises, it is important to note that there is no agreement whatsoever between the city and the UFT. The negotiating process is exactly where it was prior to today’s announcement and will continue onward.

Here is the statement that we just released to the press:

“The mayor has the power to unilaterally rescind the proposed layoffs, and I’m glad that he has made the right decision to avoid massive disruptions to our schools. He also has the power to take other steps to help deal with our schools’ budget problems, such as opting into the state’s early retirement incentive, which would potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars; and using more of the estimated $3.27 billion surplus that is being rolled into fiscal 2011 to replace reductions in state education funding.

But he does NOT have the power to unilaterally decide on the teachers’ contract, and we have reached NO agreement on his proposal to freeze teacher pay. If the mayor has concrete ideas on the next contract, he and his representatives should bring them to the bargaining table at the Public Employment Relations Board, where our contract is currently in mediation.

While we have reached no agreement on the next contract, the mayor and I have agreed to go together to Albany and Washington in the near future to lobby for new resources to prevent devastating budget cuts to our schools, our classrooms and the communities we serve.”

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew