No one is happy with Mayor Bloomberg's 2012 Fiscal Year budget, a $65.7 billion plan that will involve 5,400 city layoffs—4,100 of them coming from the ranks of teachers (a 5% reduction in city teachers). A Brooklyn teacher whose job is threatened told the Daily News, "I'm really disappointed. With the population increases, I can't imagine what class sizes are going to be next year... The most vulnerable children will be hurt the most." For his part, Bloomberg blamed a lot of the mess on Albany and Washington D.C.

Bloomberg, who said, "This budget is full of difficult decisions," explained, "We are not immune to the realities in Albany and Washington. And the reality is, both places are keeping more of our tax dollars to close their own budget deficits. I am sympathetic to their need for budget cuts, but actions taken to close their deficits came without changing the burdens they impose on City taxpayers." In fact, per the city's press release, here's the "State and Federal Disinvestment in NYC":

The last 10 years have seen the State and Federal governments’ share of the City’s budget continue to decline.

In FY 2002, the combined State and Federal share of the City’s budget was 36 percent. In FY 2012, the combined State and Federal share of the City’s budget will be only 27 percent.

If the City continued to receive the same percentage of its total budget from State and Federal resources as it did in FY 2002, the City would have received an additional $6.1 billion in State and Federal support FY 2012.

An additional $6.1 billion of State and Federal resources would have reduced the local tax burden for services or New York City taxpayers by 15 percent, or an additional $6.1 billion in State/Federal resources would have eliminated the need for any of the actions in the 10 rounds of budget saving actions taken since 2008.


Bloomberg also blamed rising costs on...pensions and benefits (one example was that half of the NYPD's costs were in pensions and benefits). He also suggested bringing in more revenue by adding more traffic cameras.

The City Council still needs to approve the budget, and it's possible Bloomberg will pull back on cuts in order to win support, but it's doubtful all the teachers' jobs can be saved.