Greetings Brothers and Sisters,
Many thanks to those of you who are supporting the campaign to Keep the Promises. Many of you traveled with us to Albany to lobby the state to keep its promise of ending the long-term practice of underfunding New York City public city schools. Thousands of you turned out in the pouring rain for the March rally at City Hall.
Well, the state has kept its promise, but this battle is far from being over.
Now, the city has gone back on its word to kids.
The mayor is planning to renege on his promise to increase the school budget by $450 million even though he anticipates a multi-billion dollar budget surplus.
In the face of a budget deficit, Gov. David Paterson and state lawmakers
actually increased state funding by $600 million. So why won’t the
mayor make his promise to city schoolchildren a higher priority? If the
budget cut he has proposed is not changed it will reduce or eliminate services
and programs in many schools, especially high-needs schools.
We must keep the heat on the mayor and City Council — many of whose
members agree with us — to Keep the Promises to our schoolchildren.
Most schools are scheduling rallies and other acts of protest against taking
away these funds. Raise your voice! Get involved at your school! Make your
concerns known!
In Solidarity,
Shelvy Young Abrams