School Funding Doubles This Year

Perhaps realizing that his education record, while long on reform but short on results that makes teachers and parents happy, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city will be putting $1.3 billion into capital construction for schools. This doubles the capital fund for schools this year, and makes NYC's overall five year plan for school funding a total of $13.1 billion, with half expected to come from Albany. If you remember, a court ruled that NYC's schools deserve $5.6 billion more a year from Albany, but Albany has done nothing to put that funding into the works, so who knows what will happen. For now, the Mayor has just shifted money into this year's school funding, making later year's funds smaller. Democratic mayoral hopefuls called Bloomberg's actions a "stopgap measure" (C. Virginia Fields) and claimed credit for them (Gifford Miller).

Let's hope that besides teachers and improved facilities, the public schools get some toilet paper.