(New York, NY) Hundreds of faculty and staff represented by the Professional Staff Congress, students and CUNY allies joined forces with City Comptroller Brad Lander, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Assembly Member Karines Reyes and members of the New York City Council and New York State Assembly today on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse to oppose cuts to City of University New York colleges.
Mayor Eric Adams has targeted CUNY for repeated cuts with his “Program to Eliminate the Gap” (PEG) and in his Executive Budget, eliminating hundreds of unfilled faculty and staff positions at CUNY community colleges. Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE), an academic support program known to improve graduation rates, is also on the chopping block.
CUNY administrators, facing the mayor’s draconian city budget cuts and other financial pressures, ordered a hiring freeze and painful “savings target” cuts earlier this year that will undermine academic departments and student services, leaving adjunct faculty jobs at risk and students without the support they need. Albany passed a budget last week with big increases in state funding for the CUNY senior colleges, but New York City funding for the community colleges has been steadily declining. Successive, enacted PEG cuts and new cuts to community colleges proposed in the Executive Budget add up to $61.5 million.
“CUNY represents both the rich diversity and possibility that is New York City. This Executive Budget jeopardizes CUNY’s ability to provide the academic and support services necessary to catapult low-income New Yorkers into the middle class. CUNY remains New York City’s greatest opportunity for civic recovery and rebuilding after the pandemic, and the City must recognize the powerful value of a strong CUNY by realigning long term budget priorities,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.
CUNY graduates contribute $4.2 billion annually to the state economy, most of it in New York City. They power the workforce, filling half of new nursing positions and a third of new teachers. The University is a national leader in generating economic mobility for students and communities. The City Council, recognizing CUNY’s huge return on investment and seeing fiscal projections that don’t jibe with the mayor’s overly dire predictions, has been standing up to the mayor, demanding budget restorations and a $35 million increase to hire 264 new full-time academic advisors.
Council members Alexa Avilés, Charles Barron, Carmen De La Rosa, Eric Dinowitz, Shahana Hanif, Christopher Marte and Pierina Sanchez all spoke in defense of CUNY, which serves a student body that is almost 80% people of color, with 60% coming from families earning less than $30,000 per year.
“CUNY is the engine of upward mobility in New York City. CUNY shapes our future. CUNY educates the next generation of leaders. Cuts will destabilize the incredible work this institution is doing to create and sustain a world class educational experience. CUNY has proven its commitment to taking on any and all of the challenges students face and we cannot simply stand by and watch millions of dollars taken away from students and the professionals that educate and support them. It’s time to stand up for CUNY, and fight to protect the institution that stands up for us every day.” said Council Member Eric Dinowitz, Chair of the Higher Education Committee.
“Generations of students across our city have turned to CUNY to seek higher education and a path for upward mobility because of its accessibility and renowned educational opportunities. Cutting CUNY’s funding would diminish its ability to deliver high-quality education to our students, and we will see those consequences manifest for years to come,” said Council Member Carmen De La Rosa. “The students who need our support the most will suffer with less access to staff, weakened mentorship that would aid them in their careers, and higher costs for education in an already expensive city. We must do what we can to retain the integrity of our higher institutions, and CUNY cannot take further cuts.”
“As one of the richest cities in the entire world, it is nonsense to argue that we do not possess the resources necessary to fully fund the City University of New York,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés. “What we do have is simply a problem with our priorities, especially if we are serious about equity and creating economic opportunity. CUNY has long served communities of color, low income households, first generation college students, and our working class. If Mayor Adams is serious about tackling the issues that New Yorkers care about, public safety, economic justice, and educational justice, then he needs to do the right thing. Fully fund CUNY and restore the cuts now!”
The mayor, who as borough president marched with students and staff to oppose past CUNY budget cuts, has eliminated 363 faculty and staff lines at CUNY, leaving colleges unable to replace full-time faculty, advisors, mental health counselors and other staff that students depend on. His budget cuts and other financial pressures have left part-time adjunct faculty, who provide the majority of undergraduate instruction at CUNY but are mostly hired on a course-by-course basis, bracing for possible layoffs.
“Cutting CUNY means throttling the engine of mobility that our city relies on,” said James Davis, president of the Professional Staff Congress. “Two CUNY degrees helped to propel Mayor Adams from a working-class Queens community to prominent roles in state and city government. Thousands of young people in that neighborhood and others like it need the opportunity that he was afforded, and that is what’s at risk in this city budget.
“Thankfully the City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams, has a plan that better meets the needs of CUNY students and PSC members. We urge the Mayor and his administration to collaborate with the Council and reach a deal that’s good for CUNY and good for the City of New York.”
The Professional Staff Congress (NYSUT, AFT Local 2334), represents 30,000 faculty and professional staff at the City University of New York.
Published: May 11, 2023