Dear Commons Community,

CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress updated its membership today on the draconian CUNY budget reductions called for by Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this week. Below is a news brief on the status of the negotiations between Governor Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio.’

Tony

————————————–

Dear PSC members,

Yesterday, the mayor responded forcefully to governor Cuomo’s plan to shift responsibility for funding 30% of CUNY senior colleges from the state to New York City. New York Times and Daily News editorial boards weighed in, and by the end of the day, the governor and the mayor were talking about working together to find “efficiencies” at CUNY. The PSC-CUNY contract and funding for some retroactive pay remains part of the discussion.

“Cuomo to Continue Shrinking State’s Share of CUNY’s Costs” ran this morning in the New York Times. The article exposes the real story about CUNY–that the University has been subject to a long history of underfunding, which has continued under Cuomo. Here are a few excerpts:

…But the budget’s trumpeting of a $6.9 billion “investment” in CUNY and the State University of New York system papers over a decline in overall state financing over the past several years, leaving the CUNY unions torn between cheering for Mr. Cuomo’s decision to make money available for a possible labor agreement and protesting what amounts to a $485 million cut in state funding….

Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress, said the squabbling between the city and state over who should pay for what obscured a more urgent problem.

Responding to a persistent budget shortfall that stood at about $51 million last year, CUNY has cut down on courses, jettisoned part-time faculty members and skimmed money from student services and even laboratory supplies. What classes remain are getting larger, Ms. Bowen said, and faculty members frustrated by the lack of raises have moved on to other jobs.

“It’s just a constant, constant austerity, even though we’re way past the recession,” she said. “That’s why we say that the discussion should be about increasing resources to CUNY after this long starvation, not just who’s going to take responsibility for already inadequate funding.”