What is the mayor’s problem?
This week Mayor Bloomberg went to Albany…to fight for layoffs.
That’s right. Our schools have absorbed $2 billion in cuts in the last two years. We have lost 5,000 teachers. Class sizes are skyrocketing. We’re facing a proposed $579 million cut from the state this year. And instead of lobbying for funding for our schools and fighting to prevent layoffs, the mayor is lobbying for layoffs.
Continuing the state millionaire’s tax instead of letting it sunset would add several billion desperately needed dollars to the budget that can be used to protect our kids from cuts. But Bloomberg opposes extending the millionaire’s tax.
The truth is we cannot afford to lose a single additional teacher in our schools, and there is no need for layoffs. Governor Cuomo, in unveiling his budget proposal, indicated that there would be no need for layoffs, especially since the city has a $2 billion surplus.
The governor is right: There is no need to lay off educators, even amidst ongoing fiscal challenges that the state faces. But for weeks and weeks Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Black have been running around telling everyone that layoffs are coming…and therefore we need to abolish the seniority rules that ensure layoffs happen in an impartial way. Now the mayor’s front group Education Reform Now is airing a slick commercial with the same message.
This campaign for layoffs has nothing to do with the necessity or lack thereof of layoffs and everything to do with City Hall’s determination to attack teachers, which will hurt children.
The mayor has sown fear among the city’s teaching force, putting everyone on edge, making educators at all levels worry about the survival of their own families as well as the fate of their students.
He says seniority rules will force the DOE to lay off some of the best (younger, newer) teachers and force them to retain some of the worst (older, veteran) teachers. He says seniority rules will force them to lay off more teachers in struggling schools and minority neighborhoods. (Now they care about struggling schools? After neglecting them and tracking them for closure?)
These are false arguments designed to pit teachers against teachers, schools against schools and communities against communities.
The mayor also said if that the city were allowed to lay off older teachers, there would be fewer layoffs because veteran teachers earn more. So the real agenda isn’t about retaining the “best” teachers, it’s about retaining the cheapest teachers. Along the way, it’s fine to single out those who have dedicated their lives to public service and toss them out on the street.
I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly offensive this idea is. I don’t need to — I am certain that every UFT member is just as appalled and outraged as I am at this proposal.
The state’s budget woes are real, but so are the options that can prevent layoffs. At the DOE, contracts and consultants and other costs that do not service classrooms can be cut. At City Hall, waste and fraud like the CityTime scandal can be reined in. And in Albany, the millionaire’s tax can be extended.
These are the real issues — not this smokescreen about who and how to lay off people — and the work we all need to be doing in Albany is making sure that our schools have the funding they need.
Please go here for more information on what you can do to help in this fight. I know I can count on you, as always, to do that work because I know you put the needs of our children and our schools first.
Sincerely,
Michael Mulgrew
UFT President
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