Assemblyman William Colton (D – Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights) demands that the NYC Council Speaker pass the resolution and restore unnecessary school cuts of $215 million in funding for the individual NYC schools passed in early June of 2022.

“I sent a letter to the NYC Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams urging her and council members to vote and pass the resolution to restore school cuts. The NYC DOE claims that their statistics show that the enrollment has dropped since 2020 during the pandemic, but ironically at the same time they are admitting that their data is not correct. These unneeded cuts mean that the number of teachers DOE hires will be lower. The remaining educators will end up leading larger classes, especially with the inflow of refugee students whose families are seeking asylum. This is unacceptable to have cuts in the school budget in a year when the state has given $600 million more in aid to NYC schools. It puts a great burden on educators and at the same time deprives students of the education that they deserve,” Colton stated.

“Assembly bill A10498 which requires the NYC Department of Education to study and implement class size reductions in its schools passed together with the extension of NYC mayoral control in June. Bill A10498 requires limiting the number of students per classroom in New York City public schools by 2027. The smaller classes would enhance students’ learning. The reduced class sizes in New York City public schools will bring them in line with class sizes in many other schools across the rest of the state. My office is circulating a petition to oppose NYC public school budget cuts for the 2022-23 school year. I am personally distributing them on the subway platforms at various subway stations. I am urging you as the speaker of the NYC council to vote and pass the resolution that city council members have introduced to restore the school cuts,” Colton continued. 

“Therefore, I demand that Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks reverse the budget cuts to schools and that this historic state school budget aid must reach our classrooms. These monies should be used to establish a plan to reduce class size and expand gifted class programs as well as remedial programs in all our schools. I will continue to battle this issue; this terrible decision must be reversed for the sake of all NYC public school students. I am urging all parents to step up and fight these cuts for all students in NYC public schools. We will prevail,” Colton added.