Cynthia Nixon joins coalition fight against city budget cuts to schools
Jun 3, 2008 1:53 PM
Cynthia Nixon, the Emmy and Tony Award winning actress starring in the current No. 1 box office hit movie “Sex and the City,” joined parents, teachers and principals representing more than 50 schools citywide who rallied on June 2 outside Stuyvesant High School to urge the New York City Council to reject $450 million in school budget cuts proposed by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
Standing at the corner of Chambers and West Streets in Lower Manhattan with dozens of members of the Keep the Promises Coalition of parents, educators, civic organizations, clergy, labor unions, education advocates, elected officials and others fighting the cuts, Nixon called upon Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the chancellor to follow the lead of the state – which provided an extra $600 million for city schools despite an economic downturn – by honoring the city’s commitment to provide more funds for city schools in settling the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit last year.
“The Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit was a grueling 14-year battle to win for all the children of New York City the ‘sound basic education’ to which they are entitled,” said Nixon, a parent of a student attending PS 87 in Manhattan and a spokesperson for the Alliance for Quality Education. “But now, at our moment of victory as the state digs deep into its pockets to begin the task of reversing decades of under-funding and neglect, the city has taken its cue to cut and run. At a time when we should be uniting with the state’s armada, our Captain Bloomberg and First Mate Klein have jumped ship and left 1.1 million school children on deck, fighting over an insufficient number of life preservers.”
The chancellor recently proposed using $63 million in state Contract for Excellence funds to plug holes in school budgets resulting from the Mayor’s $450 million in education budget cuts.
Klein caused a controversy when he blamed the city cuts on state restrictions on how the extra state aid can be used despite the fact that the city has a budget surplus of at least $4 billion. Unless the state relaxes those restrictions, Klein said, some schools would receive deeper cuts than others. That set off a firestorm of protest as parents and educators accused him of being divisive in trying to pit schools and communities against each other.
“This budget battle should not be about some schools getting more money than others,” said Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernest Logan. “New York City should be funding all schools equally. Contract for Excellence money was meant to enhance, not supplement, tax levy money. Looking at the bigger picture, we should not be cutting school budgets at all. So today, and for as long as it may take, principals, teachers, students and parents are united on this issue. New York City must keep its commitment to fully fund our schools.”
“We are speaking as one city with one voice in saying no to these cuts,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten, adding, “Children don’t get second chances. That is why we have fought so hard to get Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein to keep their promise to give all of our schools the resources they need to succeed.
“We were amazed that the Chancellor would have the hubris and chutzpah to try to blame the state for his problems, especially when the state kept its promise – despite a bad economy – and provided an extra $600 million for our schools,” Ms. Weingarten added. “And it is the height of hubris for him to stick to that claim when the city has a projected surplus of more than $4 billion!”
New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has repeatedly urged the city to follow the state’s lead, said, “Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council must keep the promise this city made to its schoolchildren last year. Members of the Assembly majority fought for historic funding for New York schools. Now it is time for New York City to honor its commitment and stop this horrible plan to cut its share. New York City must respect its moral and legal obligation to our children.”
“Although the city is facing a slight economic downturn and we need to be fiscally prudent, there is no reason to shortchange our children,” said City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. “It is simply unacceptable that the Department of Education is seeking to cut much-needed funding to our schools,” he continued, adding, “Any decrease in school funding will continue to rob our children of the high-quality, comprehensive education they deserve.”
“As New York families rally against these education cuts, we hope that the Mayor and the Chancellor will reconsider their position,” said Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. “We have to remember that this promise is not just to our city leaders. It’s not just to our teachers or parents. It’s to our children. We are calling on the City Council to reject cuts at any schools and to keep the promise to provide funds needed to ensure that all children have the opportunity to receive a quality education.”
Also attending the rally were parents, principals and teachers from more than 50 schools along with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and City Council members Tony Avella, Charles Barron, Gale Brewer, Bill de Blasio, Leticia James, John Liu, Melissa Mark Viverito, Michael McMahon, Rosie Mendez, Domenic Recchia, Diana Reyna, Joel Rivera, James Vacca and David Weprin.
“Parents from all over New York City – from Staten Island to Washington Heights and from Park Slope in Brooklyn to Highbridge in the South Bronx where I live – want the best education for their children,” said Ocynthia Williams, a parent leader with the New York City Committee for Educational Justice. “We will not allow the Chancellor and the Mayor to pit school against school or community against community to blind us to the true issue at hand: balancing the city’s budget on the backs of our kids,” she added.
“After 15 years of hard-won CFE litigation and legislation, parents and advocates worked with state officials to bring nearly $2.5 billion – over $600 million this year – in new dollars into New York City classrooms,” said Geri Palast, executive director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. “The Mayor is obligated to add $2.2 billion more to ensure the constitutional right of every child to get an excellent education. Instead, with a surplus in hand, he and the Chancellor are cynically playing Robin Hood, pitting child against child, parent against parent, and school against school, sacrificing the future of another generation on the mythical altar of fiscal responsibility. This is unconscionable and we’re not buying it.”
In addition to Nixon, another local celebrity joining the rally was Sonia Manzano, a 35-year veteran writer and actress who plays the character Maria on Sesame Street, the children’s educational show that airs nationwide on PBS. She called the administration’s cuts short-sighted and added that they would ultimately hurt everyone in the school system.
“Sacrificing one group of students does not save another group of students,” Manzano said. “In the long run, it fails both groups.”
Representatives of several schools also denounced the cuts.
“Here at Stuyvesant, our kids work hard,” said Paola de Kock of the school’s parent association. “They are engaged and they get an education that allows them to compete successfully with students across the country,” she continued. “This is what every child in New York City deserves – a public school as good as Stuyvesant. The chancellor would have you believe that it can be accomplished by slicing a shrinking pie differently and letting parents and schools fight over the crumbs. We are not buying it. We stand united, one city, one voice: Keep the promise. Fully fund all of our schools now!”
