June 28, 2024
Today’s handshake agreement announced a restoration of $15 million in operating support for community colleges. But the restorations don’t offset the Mayor’s $95 million previous cuts. Given the recent revenue projections and the increasing enrollments at CUNY colleges, it’s clear that CUNY students, faculty and staff are shortchanged in the budget deal.
We’re grateful to Speaker Adams for constantly challenging the Mayor’s false austerity and to the Council members who fought hard for the $15 million in operating aid and for the continuing investments in CUNY Reconnect, the Accelerate, Complete, Engage (ACE) program, campus childcare centers, Vallone Scholarships, food pantries, and other programs.
The Mayor insists on cuts to the community colleges, CUNY is still vastly underfunded, and our community colleges are still short 400 academic and student support staff positions. We look forward to even more aggressive advocacy from the City Council in the next budget cycle.
Published: June 28, 2024 | Last Modified: June 29, 2024
