Teachers Union Sues to Stop Adams' Cuts to Schools

Filing says the mayor is overstating New York City's fiscal crisis
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 21, 2023 4:55 PM CST
Teachers Union Sues to Stop Adams' Cuts to Schools
Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference at City Hall in New York on Dec. 12.   (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)

New York City's teachers union is suing to block planned cuts to public schools, warning that steep budget reductions proposed by Mayor Eric Adams would weaken key education initiatives and violate state law. For months, Adams has argued that slashing city spending—including a $550 million cut in education funding—is necessary to offset the rising costs of New York's migrant crisis. But in a lawsuit filed in state court on Thursday, the AP reports, the United Federation of Teachers accused the mayor of exaggerating the city's fiscal woes in order to push through a "blunt austerity measure" that is both illegal and unnecessary.

The lawsuit rests on a state law that prevents New York City from reducing school spending unless overall revenues decline. Because the city outperformed revenue expectations this fiscal year, the mid-year education cuts—which will hurt universal prekindergarten and after-school programs, as well as special needs students—are illegal, the suit argues. "This is going to become difficult and ugly," union President Michael Mulgrew said at a news conference on Thursday. "We have never had an administration try to cut their schools when they have historic reserves and their revenues are all up." Adams, a Democrat, has faced growing fallout over a multibillion-dollar budget cut announced last month that will slash hours at public libraries, eliminate parks and sanitation programs and freeze police hiring, among other cutbacks in municipal services.

Since then, he has seen his poll numbers drop. He is currently facing a separate lawsuit from the city's largest public-sector union, DC 37, aimed at stopping the cuts. At a news conference on Thursday, Adams sought to play down the lawsuits, touting his close relationship with the two politically influential unions. "From time to time, friends disagree," Adams said. "Sometimes it ends up in a boardroom and sometimes it ends up in a courtroom." A recent analysis from the Independent Budget Office appears to bolster the unions' contention that the fiscal crisis is not as dire as the mayor has made it out to be.

(More New York City stories.)

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