Walcott: NYC Schools Spending to Stay Flat for 2013

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott told a City Council hearing Tuesday that the preliminary expense budget for Fiscal Year 2012 will be about 1 percent higher than the current fiscal year

New York City schools are unlikely to see massive layoffs in the next fiscal year.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott told a City Council hearing Tuesday that the preliminary expense budget for Fiscal Year 2012 will be about 1 percent higher than the current fiscal year. He said spending will be "basically flat."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's preliminary budget for the city includes $19.6 billion in operating funds and another $4.9 billion in education-related pension and debt service.

Members of the Council's Education Committee asked whether there might be funds available to rehire the nearly 700 school aides and other support staff who were laid off because of budget cutbacks last year. Walcott said it would be up to individual school principals to decide how to spend their budgets.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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