NYC will receive less than half of the aid promised by the 13-year-old CFE lawsuit. This is thanks to the legal maneuverings of Governor George Pataki, whom the UFT endorsed, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom it declined to oppose. Fortunately, as UFT President Randi Weingarten has settled a sub-cost-of-living contract, none of those funds will be frittered away on teacher salaries.
Now Mayor Bloomberg will have more money with which to pretend he's reducing class size.
I have fond hopes that our 250%-capacity school will not rise beyond 300% under his stewardship.
On the brighter side, Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer promises to fund schools beyond minimum requirements. We'll see.
Bloomberg made it clear, however, that he will fight any calls from Spitzer to demand the city pony up more.It's refreshing to see Mayor Bloomberg reiterating his principled stand to fund schools as long as the money doesn't come out of his budget.
Update: Leonie at Class Size Matters comments:
Perhaps the most infuriating response to yesterday’s court decision on CFE was from the Mayor, who didn’t seem much to care that the courts had just shafted our kids out of at least $2.7 billion a year, as long as the judges did not require any more accountability:
"The courts ruled as we had asked that there be no further oversight. If you remember, the state and the plaintiffs had wanted another level of oversight. I think we're doing a spectacular job with the school system right now, and the last thing we need is more bureaucracy," he said. http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=64475
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