Dear Editor:

Now that the mayor has unveiled his latest city budget for the upcoming fiscal year,the question of whether or not there will be teacher layoffs  again becomes a very critical issue.

The mayor is insisting  that there will have to be more than 4,600 teacher  layoffs,with an additional 1,500  teachers leaving via attrition.

Yet our UFT president Michael Mulgrew  argues that there will be no need for these layoffs, based on the budget from the state that governor Cuomo has already has unveiled.

Why are we hearing divergent  comments from the mayor  and our UFT president regarding the layoff issue? Let's stop playing cat and mouse with this  very serious  issue.

Teachers are so very vital to our school system-there should not be any layoffs. These layoffs will

certainly strain an already overburdened  public school system, and it will have such negative impact on student instruction.

The mayor, schools chancellor and the UFT president need to work together to bring about a fair and equitable resolution  to this looming issue which will have absolute negative consequences, should it

actually be implemented.

Our children deserve a teacher in every classroom,and every teacher who works hard to advance education in our classrooms deserves to have a job. We teachers work very hard to provide the best education for our students.

Please do not compromise education in New York City public schools.

Sincerely,

John Amato

Fresh Meadows