The New York Daily News broke an exclusive story yesterday that the city teacher union is suggesting that it will offer Mayor Mike Bloomberg money from an obscure union reserve health care fund in order to prevent the 4,100 teacher layoffs that Bloomberg threatened in March. Bloomberg said the cuts are needed after Albany slashed the city’s education budget.
According to the Daily News story, the union/city negotiations are secretive right now and the union is asking the city to pony up some matching funds to seal the deal.
The New York Times followed up on the story today.
In South Brooklyn, there are varying reports on the expected impact of the proposed budget and its possible teacher layoffs on local schools. According to union rules, teachers with seniority are protected, so schools with young teachers (like PS 58) could potentially get hardest hit. PS 29 Principal Melanie Raneri Woods says she is very concerned, as her budget has already gotten cut by $1 million over three years. Yet, according to various parents at PS 58, Principal Giselle McGee says she is not concerned about teacher cuts. It’s hard to know until the budget is released.
