And Now the Capital Cuts
February 18th, 2011
Parents and teachers got one piece of bad news from Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday when he said state and federal cuts would force the city to eliminate 6,166 teaching positions. Late this afternoon, the other shoe dropped. In a prepared statement Schools Chancellor Cathleen Black announced the education department would have to drop plans for construction of some 17,000 additional school seats.
The city’s 2010 to 2014 capital plan called for adding 30,377 seats. It will now, Black said, pare that back to 14,573.
While the release did not identify which projects will go forward and which ones won’t, the news will provoke anxiety in communities, such as part of Queens and Tribeca, where parents already have been up in arms about crowded schools.
Echoing her boss’ theme, Black blamed the move on the state, saying it had slashed 48 percent from its building aid. The city, the release said, will actually up its spending slightly for school construction but it can not make up for the huge shortfall.
By Gail Robinson on February 18, 2011, 5:37 pmIn category: Albany, Education, Gotham City, Public Finance | No Comments »

