Katahmandu: In another major blow to NYC Mayor Adams’ education agenda, a Manhattan appeals court judge on Friday upheld the ruling of a lower court temporarily barring the Education Department from proceeding with controversial school budget cuts.
As reported by the New York Daily News, Judge Bahaati Pitt rejected a plea from city lawyers to nix the lower court’s decision and reinstate this year’s planned budget, which includes hundreds of millions in cuts to school coffers.
Pitt instead upheld the temporary restraining order issued last Friday by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lyle Frank, which blocks the Education Department from proceeding with the cuts and orders the agency to return to last year’s spending levels for the time being.
The restraining order came in response to a lawsuit from parents and educators arguing that the city circumvented state law by failing to get the approval of an education oversight panel before adopting the citywide budget.
Another hearing on the case is scheduled for August 4, at which point Lyle will decide whether to make the temporary restraining issue permanent.
The people who brought the suit are hoping to force the City Council to recast its vote on the budget and strike out the cuts this time around, New York Daily News reported.
City lawyers mounted a furious effort to appeal Lyle’s decision, arguing that the order would cause “chaos” for schools and upend the schools budgeting process.
(News Source: New York Daily News)