On June 7,
the New York City Council adopted a budget that reversed all of
Mayor Giuliani's cuts to CUNY’s funding and included significant
increases.
The City
budget for the 2001-2002 fiscal year includes $12.7 million more
for community colleges than was in the Mayor's budget. This
includes $5.5 million for 100 new full-time faculty lines, and
$5.0 million to expand CUNY's College Now program, which brings
college courses into NYC high
schools.
The
Council budget also restores $6.5 million for scholarships and
adds $1.7 million for CUNY institutes and other specific programs.
Months
of PSC Lobbying
Capping
months of active lobbying by the union, First Vice President Steve
London testified at the Council budget hearing on May 24,
reminding members of the City’s “special responsibility for
the welfare of CUNY’s six community colleges.” London pointed
out that City funding for CUNY had fallen by 37% in the 1990s.
The budget
passed by the Council fell short of the union’s proposal, which
would have included additional new full-time lines. Nonetheless,
union representatives hailed the new budget as the best in a
decade, and an important start towards restoring CUNY’s funding.
“We are now moving in the right direction,” said Cecelia
McCall, chair of the PSC Legislative Committee. “This is a good
sign for the continuing health of the community colleges, and
future support from the City Council.”
The
Council heeded the union’s call to remove various conditions
that Giuliani had sought to impose on City funding. The Mayor
wanted to force CUNY to privatize 1,000 remediation slots and
subject its basic skills testing to “review” by an outside
contractor, but the Council removed both provisions.
State
Budget Remains in Gridlock
The state
budget, however, remained stuck in gridlock. The Assembly’s
proposed budget includes a 5.6% increase for CUNY overall, but the
Senate version includes only a smaller increase in community
college support. The Senate adjourned in late June with no
agreement, and Governor Pataki was saying that there might be no
new budget all year. Pataki raised the prospect that the State
might just limp along with stopgap measures to continue funding at
current levels.
CUNY
“will suffer immeasurably” without a new budget, due to
inflation and increased energy costs, wrote Ken Sherrill,
professor of political science at Hunter, in an e-mail post on
Senate Forum. “All who care about public higher education should
express their views to our elected officials in Albany.”
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