NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 12, 2023) — In response to the release of Mayor Adams’ preliminary budget proposal on Thursday, public education advocacy group Alliance for Quality Education released the following statement:
“Mayor Adams continues to propose austerity measures that harm children, families, schools and communities. At a time when our children need intense social, emotional and academic support, Mayor Adams continues to trim services for students,” said Amshula Jayaram, campaign director, Alliance for Quality Education.
“Last summer Mayor Adams cut a whopping $469 million dollars from our public schools. While communities erupted in protest, the administration continued to turn a deaf ear to parents, educators and students. Mayor Adams and the Administration have dug their heels in further, proposing more cuts to the Department of Education’s central staff, despite the vital role they play in supporting schools and ensuring that day to day operations run smoothly. Further, Mayor Adams has abandoned the expansion of vital programs like 3k and cut budgets of essential resources like school libraries. These programs are important not only to the individual lives of New Yorkers, but to the growth and prosperity of our city. Underfunding public education weakens the earning potential of students over a lifetime, leaving our city poorer and more resource deprived.
“New York City has a high concentration of wealth, with over 100 billionaire residents who call this city home. If revenue is what we need, the Mayor should work with Albany lawmakers to find solutions through increasing city taxes on the ultra wealthy and corporations – not cut the already bare bones budgets of our schools. Despite the claims of Mayor Adams and others, the wealthy are not fleeing this city, although many middle and working class families are, particularly when essential services such as education and affordable housing are weakened with every budget.
“This is not about politics, this is about leadership. We need leaders who assess the problems and come up with solutions that protect children and families. Continuing to drain funds from public education is not a vital solution – it’s a recipe for disaster for the future of this city. We urge Speaker Adams and the City Council to stand up for New York’s families and propose a plan to balance the budget by raising revenue from the ultra wealthy instead of cutting funding from vital services and programs.”