In order to run the schools more efficiently, Mayor Mike is leaving a lot of special needs kids behind. Everyone knows you can't just squeeze those kids into classes with 39 kids. But if you fail to classify them, you can just dump them anywhere and worry about it later, hopefully after 2009.
The DoE denied any wrongdoing, which must be true since they never do anything wrong. After all, according to Deputy Chancellor Alonso, any and all problems with kids are the fault of teachers.
Meanwhile, Mayor Mike's gazillionaire buddies are getting tax abatements on their condos, because people like that simply aren't accustomed to doing without:
Celebrities, including Calvin Klein, Natalie Portman and Derek Jeter, save thousands of dollars in property taxes each year under a tax-abatement program dating back to the '70s that is currently under review.
"It really squeezes the middle class," Queens homeowner Jerry Iannece said.
Iannece, who has a $700,000 Colonial in Bayside Hills, pays $4,192 per year in property taxes. That's almost double what Portman pays for her $5.8 million Manhattan condo.
City records indicate the "Star Wars" queen shells out $2,341 in property taxes a year, instead of $28,653, for her posh digs in architect Richard Meier's Charles Street building.
"People who are scraping their pennies together to buy a home for their families have to pay full property taxes, while millionaires get a break," Iannece said.Clearly Mr. Iannece doesn't understand NYC policy. Teaching in a crumbling trailer behind a 250% capacity school, I get an excellent firsthand look at who is and is not important in this city. If my school were run by a billionaire, I've no doubt we'd see a huge difference.
Bloomberg thinks the tax-abatement program should be extended, but hopes to throw some scraps to working people in the form of "affordable housing."
He shouldn't bother. Those ungrateful bootless and unhorsed never appreciate anything.
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