Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s accusation this morning that school districts and their allies are playing politics with kids by using the threat of teacher layoffs to try to scare lawmakers – and the public – into opposing the governor’s education funding cuts hasn’t stopped them from doing…well…just that.

NYSUT sent a letter this month to all 211 legislators warning that Cuomo’s proposed cuts are so large that to approve them would “send our schools into reverse gear, resulting in devastation to public schools and the state’s working families.”

The statewide teachers union has tallied projected reductions from 232 districts that have crafted their budgets so far and determined they collectively plan to eliminate 13,560 positions – mostly through layoffs.

The union projects there will be another 5,000 jobs lost when the outstanding 475 to 500 districts complete their spending plans.

Both the Senate and Assembly have proposed restoring some of Cuomo’s $1.5 billion worth of education aid cuts in their respective one-house budgets. But NYSUT is looking for a lot more than that – including restoring the state subsidy to SUNY hospitals, extending the millionaire’s tax, restoring cuts to SUNY and CUNY schools and rejecting the tax cap.

2010 NYSUT LETTER TEMPLATE_1_10

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