GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Philissa wrote that we were confused earlier today when Mayor Bloomberg said that Governor Paterson is actually proposing to cut on the order of $600 million from schools in the next fiscal year. The Daily News had reported a much lower figure this morning, $206 million.

What are the true facts? The above chart shows, in billions of dollars, how much funding the state has sent to New York City public schools each school year from 2006-07 to the current one, 2008-09, and how much Governor Paterson’s proposed budget would have it send in 2009-2010. The big increases up until 2009-2010 were not just big but historic, reflecting the settlement of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, which led to a plan to pour billions extra dollars into the city public schools over four years.

The amount Governor Paterson is proposing to send 2009-2010, $8.1 billion, cuts both off of last year’s total funding (by $280 million) and off of what the city had expected to get additionally in increases (almost $300 million, according to the mayor’s office). (more…)

• Bad budget news: from Governor Paterson, talking to school leaders. (Daily News)
• Optimistic budget news: from Senator Schumer, talking about a possible federal bailout. (Liz Benjamin)
• Next up for re-zoning (and likely drama): Meet District 2! (Inside Schools)
• The 19-year-old model who is living with a former teacher is now camera-shy. (New York Post)
• The mayor’s popularity has dropped by nine points, according to a poll. (Daily News; NY1)
• Teachers need a “bundle” of traits to be successful, a study of city teachers finds. (Ed Week)
• A special ed parent says standardizing New York’s IEP’s will lead to more inconvenience. (EdNews.org)
• Columbia students are voting on whether to bring a military program to campus. (New York Post)
• Randi Weingarten’s predecessor at AFT is a possible Labor Secretary. (Associated Press)
• City schools are closed tomorrow and Friday for Thanksgiving. (New York Times)