The DOE claims that they care about students but the truth is the DOE only cares about themselves. If the DOE really cared about the students, the DOE would fully fund the schools, reduce class sizes, and eliminate school-based fair student funding that forced principals to "hire the cheapest rather than the best teachers" for their school..
In addition, the DOE had a 2019 budget of $25,6 billio dollars and according to the City Council.. in their report, Despite less teachers hired, the DOE headcount went up, Some of the increase was due to an expansion of Special Education services but the headcount at the Central Bureaucracy also increased.
The DOE has shortchanged students and teachers:
The Department of Education’s $15.8 billion PS budget supports a budgeted headcount of 133,021 full-time equivalent employees (FTE). Most DOE staff work in public schools, and most staff are teachers. Since Fiscal 2015, headcount at DOE has increased by 11,131 positions, for a total of 133,021 budgeted full-time positions in the Fiscal 2019 Preliminary Budget. However, the percent of teachers has steadily declined. In Fiscal 2019 budgeted teacher positions account for approximately two-thirds (64 percent) of all school-based staff but 58 percent of all DOE staff. Most of the headcount increase at DOE includes titles such as literacy coaches, special education support staff, social workers and universal pre-kindergarten teachers, all of which are not listed as teacher titles at DOE. The figure below shows DOE’s overall FTE headcount since Fiscal 2015 and the total number of teachers. However, we may see this trend begin to reverse as the Four-Month Actual headcount for Fiscal 2018 in the PMMR is indicating an increase of 152 teacher titles.
It appears the DOE rather spend money on headcount, especially in the Central Bureaucracy, rather than spend it on students and schools. A prime example id that instead of building more classrooms, students are crammed into trailers that had only a life of ten years and now have toxic black mold.
How many students get sick because they are being put into trailers that have lasted long past their lifespan? The New York Post identified the problem and yet the DOE has done little but claim they are working on the trailer issue. For the DOE its all talk and no action at the expense of the students and teachers who must suffer the consequences.