LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
Shelvy Young Abrams
Dear Paraprofessionals,
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal a month ago to lay off 14,000 public school educators to solve the city’s budget problem was chilling, to say the least. Since then, the federal stimulus bill that we worked so hard to pass has been signed into law and the mayor’s popularity has plummeted in reaction to his layoff threat.
But the budget crisis is far from over, and our March 5 rally remains crucial. Simply put, the money from the stimulus package is not enough to make up the multi-billion dollar shortfalls in the state and city budgets. We also need to press local officials to do the right thing with the federal funds and make sure they reach the classroom and are used for direct student services. We are still facing an unprecedented crisis and we need an unprecedented response.
We need progressive revenue increases—higher taxes on those who prospered during the last several decades and who must share in the sacrifices being demanded now. That’s why the March 5 rally is so important and why it’s urgent that every para turn out for the rally against budget cuts at City Hall on March 5 at 4 p.m.!
The federal stimulus was a big win for all of us – the largest
federal commitment to education ever – and it would not have been
possible without you. Everyone who faxed their congressional representatives
or went to Washington to lobby helped make the stimulus package a reality.
Thank you.
Just as we mobilized to make history with the stimulus bill, we can and
must mobilize to make history on March
5.
In Solidarity,
Shelvy Young Abrams