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  • As NYC’s education budget hits a fiscal cliff, Adams saves several school programs

    Apr 24, 2024

    Mayor Eric Adams held a rally outside City Hall Wednesday to tout his executive budget proposal. The city's Education Department is facing an overall cut, but Adams has saved a slew of programs that were on the chopping block.
    Michael Appleton / Mayoral Photography Office

    Chalkbeat – New York City public schools would see its budget shrink by 2.4%, or $808 million, next fiscal year under a more detailed budget presented by Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday.

    The smaller budget is largely the result of expiring federal relief dollars, and Adams’ proposal saves a slew of programs that were on the chopping block because they were financed with one-time money that flooded into city coffers in the wake of the pandemic.

    Officials announced last week that they will use more than $500 million in city and state funds to keep hundreds of social workers, new staffers working in homeless shelters, and an expansion of preschool for 3-year-olds, among other initiatives.

    “We are relieved that many of the education programs supported with federal stimulus funding are no longer in jeopardy,” Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children, an organization that works on behalf of low-income families, wrote in a statement. “We urge City leaders to go further to prevent the loss of other critical supports that students and families need.”

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