UFT's Dangerous Move
United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten recently announced that her organization will launch a $1million campaign to reduce class sizes in the city's schools.
Few educators would argue the benefits of reduced class sizes. But Weingarten's move is a political one - the first of what will no doubt be many attempts to secure a piece of the more than $5 billion per year that the courts have ordered New York State to pay New York City's schools in the lawsuit brought by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity.
There is only one way to stop this from occurring and to diminish the impending feeding frenzy. Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein need to develop a comprehensive plan for how they will invest the Fiscal Equity money.
This article, written by Arthur Levine, appeared in the May 18th, 2006 publication of The New York Daily News.
Published Friday, May. 19, 2006