Even More Budget Cuts

By Milo Schwartz, Will Duffy, and Alan Wang

In November 2023, Eric Adams announced that the Department of Education would have its budget cut by 10 percent. By the next fiscal year, the DOE will face 500 million dollars in budget cuts.

These budget cuts have already affected schools in New York City, with a shortage of pencils, tissues, and even school lunches. According to eighth grade ELA teacher Ms Willis, she has seen students blow their noses with paper because of the lack of tissues!

Lilly Gilmore in class 706 also said “We need more money for sports and food because the food is awful at this school.”

 Most of these budget cuts will be diverted into other departments, such as the NYPD. According to the DOE website, the budget for this school year is around 37.5 billion dollars. The DOE budget pays for more than you think, including this very Wolf Press issue you’re reading right now. It also covers supplies, such as pencils, pens, markers, school lunches, and paying teachers’, administrators’ and all support staff’s salaries. The last part is crucial because the DOE employs over 150,000 staff who are vital to making sure students learn safely. 

On top of that, there are around 1,800 schools serving nearly one million students. While 37 billion dollars seems like a lot, it really isn’t for the largest public education system in the country. 

An anonymous person in 706 shared her opinion saying, “Who wouldn’t be aware of the budget cuts? The issues are everywhere and they are always running out of supplies. It’s funny how they have enough budget to get new computers, but not tissues.” 

The budget of the Department of Education, like any department run by the city, isn’t straight forward. It’s hard for the DOE to predict how much money schools need throughout the year, and it fluctuates year after year. It’s also hard to know whether or not a costly event such as a hurricane will occur, costing the city thousands of dollars. 

The city budget cuts issues don’t just concern the education system,it also affects other city departments, such as public libraries and the justice system. These effects could contribute to the deterioration of the public services contributed by the city.

So, Eric Adams budget cuts affect the school with fewer supplies and more problems for other departments. Eric Adams’ budget cuts may prove to be a downfall for the New York City education system, but only time will tell.