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Now More Than Ever, New York City Must Prioritize Investing More in Public Education


students with technology nyc schools hs

Schools need computers (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


On November 20, a City Council hearing revealed that 60,000 students still lacked an internet-enabled device from the Department of Education (DOE) to participate in remote learning, which had begun more than eight months prior. That number of students lacking sufficient technology only grows when you include students who lack headphones, keyboards, or other critical pieces of technology that allow students to work in homes shared with other siblings and parents learning and working remotely.

This current situation is unacceptable and untenable, and it raises questions about how we ended up in this predicament in the first place. As a teacher for over two decades, I know firsthand that this current technology crisis, resulting in tens of thousands of students lacking access to a basic education, is in actuality the result of years of chronic under-funding of our schools — the pandemic has merely intensified the problems that have existed for years. Now more than ever, we must acknowledge the lack of investment that has been made and commit to dramatically increased funding to guarantee a world-class public education to all children in our city.

In the year 2020, it is inexcusable that schools were not already equipped with adequate technology for all students before this pandemic. Far too many schools have just a handful of laptop carts that get shuffled among classrooms so the few computers can be shared by all. Of those devices, many have not been maintained, running with slow operating speeds or with missing keys and cords.

Some students have never typed an essay before their first class in college, and many do not have the opportunity to develop the digital literacy skills that are expected of modern jobs. This neglect in basic computer and digital literacy, compounded with learning loss from the current technology gap, will undoubtedly have long-term consequences in skill development as well as later academic and job performance.

At my school, PS6 in Brooklyn, I’ve successfully fought for modern technology for my students, including a state-of-the-art Mac computer lab, so that students have the opportunity to be 21st-century learners and thinkers. The Common Core Standards themselves outline that elementary school students should be able to successfully “gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources,” “make strategic use of digital media...to express information,” and “use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others” in order to meet college and career readiness standards.

Students cannot achieve these goals without access to technology. While I’m proud of expanding computer access at my school, the fact that I had to advocate so aggressively is a problem in and of itself — it should be the norm that all students have access to modern, high-quality technology since it would be impossible for them to accomplish today’s learning priorities without it.

Unfortunately, the chronic underfunding of our public schools extends beyond technology, and the pandemic has also highlighted other areas where we have underinvested, including in building infrastructure. At the beginning of this school year, dozens of classrooms were identified as unusable during the pandemic because they either had no windows or windows that only opened a few inches. Even now, many students and educators who are learning and teaching in-person are freezing in their classrooms, relying on open windows for ventilation since exhaust fans have not been replaced in years. Consistent and preventative repairs to the infrastructure of our school building is expensive, but allows for healthier, safer environments for those inside.

The fact that our public schools only have approximately 4.9 social workers, psychologists, and counselors for every 1,000 students, has also been amplified during this pandemic, as students cope with the trauma of COVID-19. The National Association of Social Workers recommends that there should be “one school social worker to each building serving up to 250 general education students” but also notes that a lower ratio, such as 1:50, should be used when “providing services to students with intensive needs.”

Given that 20.2% of the DOE’s student population receives special education services and considering the adverse experiences of the past year, school support staff to student ratios in New York City should undoubtedly fall well below the 1:250 threshold. New York City has been hit extremely hard by the pandemic and over the past nine months, our students have been through a range of experiences from confusion and uncertainty to grief and trauma.

With over 24,000 individuals lost to the virus and more than 1.5 million who have filed for unemployment in New York City, many of our students have been impacted directly and significantly by the pandemic. Students’ loved ones may have lost jobs, been hospitalized, or even died, resulting in significant trauma. We must ensure that there is adequate social-emotional care for our students, from increasing the number of mental health care professionals in every school to offering quality professional development to teachers on trauma-informed instructional practices. These measures cost money but are essential.

Lastly, we need to ensure that our class sizes are significantly reduced so that every student can receive the individualized attention that they deserve. In New York City, our average public school class size across all grades in the 2018-2019 school year was 26.4 students. Lowering this figure would result in improved learning outcomes for our students, as reducing class size is one of the “few educational strategies shown to increase learning for all students,” according to  the U.S. Department of Education.

Decreasing class sizes means hiring more teachers, but considering that the former Chair of the Council on Economic Advisers estimated that every dollar invested in reducing class size yields about $2 in benefits, any such expenses are well worth the cost.

Without a doubt, the pandemic has taken an enormous toll on the state’s economy, with officials estimating $59 billion of revenue shortfalls through 2022. But even within a restricted budget, we must show our priorities through the way we allocate money, and prioritizing education means that school funding should not be cut. To the contrary, it should be increased.

While the Department of Education saw hiring freezes and cuts to after-school programs, wraparound services, and teacher professional development, the city’s 5,500 school safety agents are still supported by an approximately $326 million budget, a 2% increase from the prior fiscal year. Shifting funding from the New York Police Department’s School Safety Division (which is in a multi-year process of being transferred to the DOE) to expanding technology access, updating our school buildings, increasing social-emotional care, and reducing class sizes would be a direct way to reduce harm as well as increase academic support for our city’s most marginalized students.

We can also increase funding for our public schools by issuing emergency government bonds and increasing taxes on New York’s highest earners. Similar actions taken after September 11, 2001 were successful in helping the city’s economy to recover. In August, Mayor de Blasio and other lawmakers asked Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature to authorize the city to borrow up to $5 billion to help close the city’s budget gaps. If granted, these funds could support a revitalization of the city’s education budget, investing now in our students as the future of our society.

Although we do not know exactly how long this public health crisis will last, we must take immediate action to fully fund our schools. Even under these challenging conditions, we must invest in the resources that every student needs to thrive. Universal access to quality education is not just a priority — it is a necessity.

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Rita Joseph is an educator at PS6 Brooklyn, mother of four, and candidate for New York City Council in the 40th Council District (Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood, Prospect Park, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens). On Twitter @RitaJosephNYC.

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New York State Has the Resources to Halt Billions in Scheduled Budget Cuts and Reset Next Year’s Framework


Cuomo budget Mujica state

The Governor and Budget Director (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


Everyone is bracing for another difficult year, including economically, in the City and the State of New York. The financial difficulties presented by the pandemic are plain to see, including massive unemployment, a state of near emergency for the mass transit system, the decimation of small businesses, and so much more on top of the staggering loss of life.

But the financial outlook for the City and State is not as bleak as first thought. There are still difficult challenges ahead, because federal bailouts in education, Medicaid, health care, and transportation will not last forever. They are one-shots that can temporarily help State and City budgets, but it will be several years before the economy recovers. A tax increase to mitigate budget cuts and address poverty and inequality is a necessity, and there will be a robust debate on that subject this year.

But New York State now has the resources to halt billions in scheduled budget cuts, and reset the budget deficit for the coming year into a far more manageable framework.

How is this even possible?

The State Budget and Finally, Another Federal Stimulus Package Arrives
The state government’s initial plan to implement the budget adopted in April 2020 contemplated $10 billion in spending cuts, including $8 billion in local assistance, the area of the budget involving aid for local education, health care, social welfare, and transportation. The other $2 billion was for state agency operations, including colleges and universities, the prison system, the courts, and the many dozens of regular state agencies. The budget had been adopted right after Congress enacted a huge stimulus package to help the American economy as it plunged into the COVID-19 pandemic recession, and recognized New York’s own plunging economy in April 2020.

Governor Cuomo and other public officials then began their pleas to Congress to provide another round of major help for state and local governments, which continued for the rest of the year while the Republican-led U.S. Senate rebuffed a Democratic-led House of Representatives package that included large amounts of money for state and local governments. The $908 billion stimulus package just signed by President Trump includes little in the way of broad funding for state and local governments, but did include some meaningful funds for education and transportation, including $4 billion to spare the MTA from massive cuts in 2021.

New York Senator Charles Schumer, the minority leader, issued a press release describing assistance coming to the state. In addition to the MTA bailout, there is $5.8 billion in education funds, $4 billion of which is for elementary and secondary education and $1.4 billion for higher education. There are also COVID-19 health relief funds and very modest amounts for non-MTA public transportation and road and bridge work. According to Senator Schumer, states will direct disbursements of these funds. 

During the wait for additional federal funds, the Cuomo administration began withholding local assistance funds and had withheld $2.6 billion since budget adoption, through September 30, according to a November report by State Comptroller DiNapoli. The remainder of the $8 billion cut was backloaded to the final quarter of the budget year, running January 1 through March 31, 2021, in the hope of finally getting sufficient aid from the federal government to avoid these deep cuts. About $5.4 billion is technically still scheduled for reduction, but there have been other intervening developments.

The State’s Own Finances Improve
The State Comptroller’s November 2020 report estimated that, although New York’s tax revenues were down significantly from the year before, they were forecast to be $3.8 billion above the enacted budget plan through the end of the fiscal year on March 31. Effectively that means the deficit for the year is cut nearly in half. Explanations for the improvement center on the fact that, even though New York’s job loss situation has been devastating, the pain is mostly being felt by low- and moderate-income workers and households, while upper-income workers and households did not suffer anywhere near as much and their tax payments are holding up better than expected.

The State Comptroller’s November 30 cash report on state funds, issued December 18, 2020, confirmed the tax receipt improvement and said the State’s General Fund was holding $13.6 billion in cash, $7 billion above the same period in 2019. The State was in the process of repaying $1 billion from short-term borrowing it did earlier in 2020, and plans to repay the $3.4 billion remainder of that borrowing by March 31 of this year. Another major factor in the State’s healthy cash position is that it has slowed down capital spending, which traditionally has included up to $3 billion a year in cash from tax receipts transferred to state capital projects. The State borrows substantial funds for capital projects, but also uses cash for a portion of its capital spending. At least $1 billion less in cash was transferred to capital projects in 2020, in part due to a pause in spending of this nature.

Another positive development for the State involves the federal Health and Human Service Administration’s continued extension of Emergency Medicaid Enhanced Reimbursement for state governments. Originally part of the first big federal bailout, which replaced portions of state Medicaid spending with federal dollars through June 30, HHS has continued the enhanced funding through December 31, and then again to March 31. The latest extension into the final quarter of the State’s fiscal year brings another $750 million in financial relief to New York state government.

Watchdogs Criticize Lack of Transparency
It should be noted that all fiscal year the State Division of the Budget has provided little in the way of specifics in its spending reductions, as to what areas of the budget are getting reduced, and what local governments and school districts are getting cuts and how much. A coalition of 20 advocacy groups called on the governor and the Division of the Budget to provide meaningful transparency for spending actions and decisions following a December 16 press conference by Governor Cuomo. I urged a similar disclosure process in my first column about this state budget, in April, as had the Citizens Budget Commission at the time.

Current Year Cuts Can Be Halted
The combination of greater than expected state tax revenue and newly-available federal education and Medicaid funds effectively eliminates the need to implement the backloaded remainder of the state budget cuts still on the books from the State’s original financial plan. This assumes the State would “permanetize” the first $2.6 billion in cuts, and eliminate the remaining $5.4 billion tentatively still scheduled. With $3.8 billion in additional tax revenue, only $1.6 billion in cuts would be left. Education is about 40% of local assistance spending, so the State could use $640 million in new federal education aid as a replacement for state dollars, and the extra quarter of federal Medicaid funding of $750 million to replace state dollars. The State has sufficient cash to cover the rest. This would still leave the State with more than $3 billion in federal education aid for the coming budget, as well as $1.4 billion in higher education funds. The State could also help school districts, colleges, and universities with emergency needs now.

What about the $2.6 billion already cut? The problem here is that the State has been counting the cuts to help address a gigantic deficit for the coming fiscal year, which begins April 1. If the State were to take federal funds or its excess cash and backfill the cuts it has already made, rather than permanetizing those cuts, it would add $2.6 billion to next year’s budget gap, rather than being counted toward reducing spending against the gap. That gap was estimated to be $16.7 billion in the State Budget Office’s Mid-Year Update, before the current fiscal year spending adjustments. Instead, it is possible to look forward to see how the changing economic and federal aid picture offers a reset for the coming fiscal year’s budget.

What About the 2021-2022 State Budget?
The State Comptroller November tax receipts forecast for the 2021-22 state budget projected $4.1 billion more in tax revenue than previously forecast, bringing the projected deficit next fiscal year to $12.6 billion. The State Division of the Budget constructed next year’s gap to begin at $16.7 billion, but with implementation of the planned $8 billion in budget cuts, the 2021-2022 deficit would come down to $8.7 billion.

The reset begins with using the comptroller’s forecast revenue improvement of $4.1 billion, and the current year spending reduction of $2.6 billion, to bring the coming deficit from $16.7 billion to $10 billion. That is still very sizable.

While a $10 billion deficit next fiscal year is substantial, having $3-4 billion in federal elementary, secondary, and higher education dollars to replace state dollars and assure stable funding for education in the coming budget puts New York in a dramatically improved position. A budget hole of a similar amount would re-appear in 2022-23, but a year’s worth of overall economic improvement and the end of COVID-19 would also go a long way toward restoring the State’s financial and economic health.

A CBC Recommendation with Good Value
Every year the State uses about $3 billion in regular tax receipts to pay for capital projects in cash, substituting for a portion of the borrowed funds that make up most of the capital budget. The State also has extra dedicated tax receipts that go specifically to pay for capital projects for the environment and parks. As mentioned, during this past year’s tough times, the State reduced some of its capital spending and held on to some of the cash it normally uses for capital projects.

In a May 2020 review of the recently adopted state budget, the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) recommended a significant overhaul of state capital spending. The primary recommendation was to issue bonds to pay for substantial capital spending now paid for in cash. CBC recommended both paring back some low-value capital spending and borrowing. The cash saving reaches $3 billion in the coming 2021-2022 fiscal year. This would not be a one-shot saving where the State would have to find the same amount of money the following year, but a real policy change. Yes, it would be adding to the State’s debt load. The State could do this only for a few years until a broader recovery was under way to minimize future increased debt. But the State would have several billion dollars each year available for several years.

Using federal education dollars and bonding out more capital projects, with the values of each of those options in the $3 billion range, brings next fiscal year’s deficit down another $6 billion. This completely resets the framework for addressing next year’s problems. Instead of the already-reduced $10 billion, the deficit would be $4 billion.

As I indicated, federal resources would still be providing billions for the current and next year’s budget and that will not last forever, though there could be additional federal money headed to New York. Fortunately, though, even as-is the funding gives New York State and City more time to address the struggles New Yorkers are facing. At least that’s a bit of good news to start 2021.

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Jim Brennan was a member of the New York State Assembly for 32 years, where he chaired four committees. On Twitter @JimBrennanNY.

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CUNY’s Adjunct Faculty Should Have the Same Job Protections as New York’s Fast-Food Workers


CUNY graduates ceremony caps gowns

CUNY grads (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)


There’s an unwarranted assumption that workers with college degrees are at the top of the heap in terms of not only earnings but also rights and dignity. Despite the obvious benefits of desk work, especially work that can be done remotely during a pandemic, the fact is that many highly-educated workers in New York City are plagued by the same low wages and lack of job security that fast-food workers have been fighting for years. Such is the plight of 15,000 Adjunct Faculty who teach hundreds of thousands of students at City University of New York (CUNY).

Most workers in this country are what is known as “at will” employees. That means they can be fired any day for any reason, no matter how long they have been on the job, no matter how good their work is. “At will” employees can lose their livelihood if the boss doesn’t like red shoes, they need three days off to care for a sick family member, or the employer simply finds someone else who will do the work at a cheaper wage. And if the employer needs to cut the workforce for any reason, they have the complete discretion to choose whom to layoff, and how. The worker who has labored for ten years, or, for thirty, has no “right” to their job.

At one time, many more workers in this country were in unions, and traditionally among the first areas those unions addressed in contracts with management were ways to institutionalize job security rights. But as employers have discovered wrinkles in national labor laws that enable them to resist unionization, the number of unionized workers has decreased and job precarity has grown. Especially for low-wage workers of large employers – McDonalds, Walmart – no one seriously thinks those workers will be able to form unions anytime soon.

And so, some unions, among them the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), have trail-blazed fighting for legislative rights for workers if contractual ones cannot be secured. SEIU notably pioneered the “Fight for 15,” the struggle to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Now, its work has resulted in two remarkable new pieces of New York City legislation protecting workers at any fast-food restaurant with more than 30 outlets nationwide.

One bill just recently passed by the New York City Council directs that when layoffs or reduction of hours occur for economic reasons, they must take place in order of seniority, so that longevity in a job provides protection and security from reduction of income. The other recently-passed bill requires that, after a probationary period, workers can only be fired through “due process” and for “just cause”— meaning that the employer must be able to show an arbitrator – a neutral third party – that the worker violated some “policy, rule or practice,” and that the employer impartially applied a disciplinary process leading to discharge. Again, these protections apply only to workers at fast-food restaurants that are part of chains with more than 30 outlets nationwide.

Along with New York State’s earlier doubling of the minimum wage, we see a consistent pattern: New York’s state and city governments are now establishing by law the types of work protections that used to be secured by workers mostly when they were able to organize themselves into unions. The extension of these basic job protection rights to those not in labor unions is both heartening and amazing.

But if these protections are vital for fast-food workers, why stop there? For decades, the proportion of college faculty who are “contingent” or “at-will” has been growing. There’s even a term for them: the “academic precariat.” At New York City’s massive public university system, CUNY, the majority of the faculty are now job-insecure.

Both of us have been teaching for several years at Lehman College, part of the CUNY system. One of us has a PhD and the other is just finishing a doctoral dissertation. But because we were hired as “adjunct faculty,” we have learned that, as the saying goes, those degrees and $2.75 will get us on the subway. While we belong to a union, it has been able to make just a little headway on job security. The protection that fast-food workers just won is far more comprehensive.

After CUNY laid off over 2,000 adjunct faculty this fall – about 15% of our numbers – only one of us is working and the future is uncertain. How that process unfolded, how decisions were made as to who would retain employment, is a complete mystery.

While many department chairs strive to keep long-serving adjunct faculty on payroll and protect those who gain health insurance through this job, there is no contractual obligation. In fact, at some campuses it seems the most senior adjunct faculty were specifically targeted for layoff, perhaps because they make a few dollars more. (And we do mean “a few”: most of us make less than $5,500 for every course we teach.) If seniority can be applied to fast-food workers, why not us?

Even in more normal times, our employers make unilateral decisions about who retains their job and how many courses we teach. Our employer answers to no one, explains to no one, and certainly does not need to prove just cause when deciding to simply not call us back for the next semester. It is wrong for any worker to be treated this way.

CUNY is small potatoes next to multi-billion-dollar corporations like McDonalds and KFC, and our City Council has now compelled those corporations to treat their workers with dignity and respect. Can the Council extend the same basic work protections to the faculty whose mission is to help the youth of New York gain a college education? Like fast-food workers, we deserve due process after a probationary period and the same right to a written explanation and legal recourse if we are dismissed. Like them, we want our employer to be compelled to prove economic necessity before laying off teachers and reducing the number of classes for students. Like them, the first hired should be the last to be laid off and the first to be rehired.

Whenever adjunct faculty complain about low wages or lack of job security and a career track, we are told that no one can stop the “adjunctification” of the university. But many things seem impossible until someone does them. In this city, people have come to recognize fast-food employees as “essential workers,” and that surely helped the Council to muster the courage to make this move. Imagine this for CUNY adjunct faculty. As John Lennon said, it's easy if you try.

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Ruth Wangerin is an adjunct assistant professor scheduled to teach courses on gender and on culture, with a focus on the agroecology movement, in the Lehman College Anthropology Department. Marc Kagan is currently teaching about racial inclusion and exclusion in the Lehman College History Department and is finishing his Ph.D. on New York’s transit workers.

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