“These budget cuts have already wreaked havoc on our schools, and unless they are restored will have very real consequences for students in the fall.” “This is about our children,” said Tamara Tucker, a mom of two kids at PS 125 in Harlem and the named plaintiff in the case, at a rally outside the court in Foley Square. Several logistical questions remain to be ironed out, as principals make key hiring decisions and just weeks before schools reopen for the fall, including what funding the city would tap if the cuts are reversed.

Still, Frank asked lawyers on both sides to recommend language that would prevent his order from infringing on the overall city budget. Once formally issued, the city will be able to appeal the order. A New York state judge may reverse the cuts due to the city potentially violating state law.

A rally to protest budget cuts to city schools outside of the Department of Education headquarters on July 18, 2022. “If it’s called an emergency declaration, it really should be an emergency,” the judge said. The plaintiffs argue that the city flouted state law by passing a budget that included at least $215 million in cuts, a small portion of the overall DOE budget, without prior approval from the department’s oversight board.Ĭity lawyers countered that an “emergency declaration” issued by Schools Chancellor David Banks allowed them to bypass the panel and put the cuts into effect at the school level.īut Frank found that the declaration, though not unusual, “should have a good reason.” The unusual judicial order was sought by a group of parents and teachers who filed a suit against the city over the budget slashes, which are tied to plunging enrollment in public schools.įrank at a court hearing on Thursday continued his temporary restraining order issued July 22 that stopped the city from moving forward with the cuts, keeping school funding at the levels outlined last year. “As we await a final court order, we hope the court will recognize that an entirely new budget process a month from the start of the school year will only bring further uncertainty,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a statement. The ruling by New York State Supreme Court Judge Lyle Frank expected Friday could possibly throw out the Department of Education’s entire $37 billion budget approved for next year and allow the City Council to recast its June vote passing the allocation that included the hundreds of millions in cuts. Parents and the left are in an all-out war, and the kids are collateral damageĮx-principal gets $187K DOE gig despite ‘pattern of dishonesty’Ī Manhattan judge appears poised to reverse cuts to public school budgets - suggesting that the city violated state law during the approval process. Rewarded for fraud: A textbook case of city Department of Education cronyismĮducation secretary: Decision on pausing student loans coming in the next week

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