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HIGHER ED TODAY �� TIMESLEDGER | QNS.16 COM | SEPT. 25-OCT. 1, 2020 Photo by Todd Maisel Hybrid learning could cost city additional $32M a week BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH Running New York City public schools under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s hybrid model, while keeping with state COVID-19 health guidelines, will force the city to spend a combined $32 million extra a week, according to a new report that the Independent Budget Office (IBO) released Thursday. The IBO issued its report the same day that officials announced the first day of in-person classes would be delayed again for most New York City public school students. Only Pre-K, 3-K, and district 75 students returned to school buildings on Monday, Sept. 21. Students in K-5 schools and K-8 schools will return to buildings for hybrid learning on Tuesday, Sept.29. Middle, high school, secondary, transfer and adult education students can expect to go back to their physical classrooms on Oct. 1. The report claims that the majority of increased school spending, $19 million a week, will be spent on hiring an additional 11,900 teachers and substitutes needed to meet the scheduling demands of hybrid learning. On Sept. 17, Mayor de Blasio announced that the city would hire an additional 2,500 to meet the needs of the city’s blended learning model where students take classes in school buildings and remotely. The new emergency substitutes will include DOE employees previously working in city Regional Enrichment Centers, CUNY adjunct professors, graduate students and teaching students. Now, the total number of extra teachers promised by the city is 4,500. On Monday, Mayor de Blasio pledged to have 2,000 extra substitute teachers by the start of in person learning. That number though still doesn’t meet the anticipate staffing demands projected by the city’s principal union, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators or the IBO. Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan told reporters during de Blasio morning press conference that the city has “existing resources” to help cover the projected additional costs of operating school buildings under the city’s current plan. “We are making available an additional $50 million to make sure that this is completely accomplished and we will find savings and we will reflect those in future financial plans,” he said. It is unclear where exactly the mayor’s office expects to draw more savings and the report touches on this uncertainly. “These costs are particularly uncertain, both in terms of how many more teachers will be needed and how many more will be available,” the report reads. “IBO assumes that on average, schools across the city would require a 20 percent increase in the number of general and special education teachers on their rosters compared with last year (2019- 2020).” Thursday’s announcement on the delay to in-person due to staffing issues and the fact that the city is prepared to find $50 million dollars in additional savings to keep buildings open comes as Mayor de Blasio grapples with the possibility of laying off 22,000 municipal workers to help fill a two-year budget gap of $9 billion. Since the spring, de Blasio has called on Albany to allow the city to borrow $5 billion to help bridge the deficit. “They are obviously moving things around that nobody knows about,” said Brooklyn Councilmember Mark Treyger, who requested the IBO report. “How does this help make their case for Albany to ask for borrowing services when the mayor and the deputy mayor are saying the city has enough money? It doesn’t make sense.” �� Just days into the fall semester, the City University of New York’s ability to propel students up the socioeconomic ladder was recognized in a series of national rankings of institutions of higher ed. The Wall Street Journal named Baruch College and City College of New York as the country’s top two “Best Value” public colleges, respectively. Those schools were also listed, along with six other CUNY colleges, among the top public schools in the northeast, and also among the nation’s most affordable and diverse. CUNY’s quality and affordability were also recognized by U.S. News & World Report, which named 10 CUNY senior colleges among the top performing public institutions of higher education in the northeast. The magazine listed six CUNY schools among the top 25 in promoting social mobility, and six whose graduates have the least student debt. And Business Insider, Money.com and the Princeton Review each also touted CUNY’s value and affordability in their rankings, while a study published earlier this year by the Brookings Institution affirmed CUNY’s effectiveness in lifting low-income students into the middle class. Our community colleges were also recognized for their quality in the 2019- 2020 school year, when three were selected as candidates for the prestigious Aspen Prize, putting them in league with the top 15 percent of community colleges nationwide. Earlier this year, Borough of Manhattan Community College was named a finalist for the $1 million prize. This all serves to underscore CUNY’s tangible impact on the city and region, its economy and residents. Its greatest impact can be stated in two words: social mobility. CUNY’s 25 campuses anchor their communities, helping all residents of our city to meaningfully contribute to the city’s evolving economy. Now, the University is marshaling its resources to help the region build back even better from the economic fallout of the pandemic. To ensure that our graduates continue to drive the area’s economic resurgence for years to come, we have collaborated with industry partners and created career readiness programs for students that will culminate in tens of thousands of well-paying jobs for the city’s economy. �� of some of the largest employers in New York will create career pathways for 25,000 CUNY students with a focus on low-income and Black, Latinx and Asian communities. The New York Jobs CEO Council will have a direct impact on the economy, creating a pipeline of skilled CUNY workers to the growing workforce. �� 90-day Upskilling challenge, which is providing free skills training and includes course partnerships with Google and IBM to connect students to employers who are hiring during COVID-19. �� - ing CUNY in the state’s historic $9 million Workforce Development Initiative to support job training opportunities across New York. The federally funded program will support job training opportunities across the state, and will benefit CUNY colleges including Lehman, Kingsborough Community College and LaGuardia Community College, helping our students adjust to a post- COVID market. �� - tural Corps, a proven-successful program that provides a pipeline to careers in New York City arts and cultural sectors for students from underrepresented communities. With new support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, CUNY will be able to place hundreds of additional students in internships and give them access to the training and exposure to pursue fulfilling careers in the arts. These initiatives represent the kinds of work-based learning programs that elevate students and inspire informed observers to acknowledge our efficacy, and the benefits are long-lasting. As of summer 2018, we estimated that 1 million people who graduated from a CUNY college in the previous half century were living in New York State, and 82 percent of those — or 840,000 CUNY grads — lived in New York City. From CUNY’s operations and procurement, research, construction and student and alumni activities, our colleges annually generate billions of dollars for the regional economy, as two studies noted earlier this year. When I was appointed Chancellor in May of 2019, I brought an agenda that focused on increasing access for traditionally underrepresented groups. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled us to quickly pivot to distance learning, but it didn’t alter my priorities. It only made them more urgent. After all, when we provide a path upward for all New Yorkers, we are moving the city forward. I can’t think of a better cause to get behind in these uncertain times. �� /Money.com