There is a lot of conversation happening over on Twitter after NYC school budgets were released on Monday. Executive director of the nonprofit Class Size Matters, Leonie Haimson, is outraged at the fact that many schools are losing millions of dollars for the upcoming school year.
New York Daily News education reporter Michael Elsen-Rooney Tweeted out that while enrollment declines will affect schools’ budgets, comparing the two years right now is not completely accurate. “DOE adds many more budget lines throughout the year and those update on Galaxy as they post.” Galaxy is the platform NYC schools use to see budget allocations in order to plan for the upcoming school year.
But many folks—including a NYC principal—were quick to debunk Rooney’s statement. “The difference this year is we received the stimulus money upfront and not later in the year. So I know how much less money I have. It is a significant cut,” principal George Carter of PS79Q responded.
Haimson also chimed in on Rooney’s claim, “Actually those additional budget allocations are small and very specialized — and some were for last year only like the class size pilot. Principals tell me they are told to plan staffing based upon the Galaxy budget they get now. Don’t let @nycschools PR snow you.”
You can look up your school’s Galaxy budget here. If you don’t know your school’s code, you can first search it here. To learn more about Class Size Matters and what you can do to advocate for small class sizes without budget cuts, visit here.
