For Immediate Release
Mar 4, 2008 6:12 PM
Just as the city called on March 4 for an additional 3 percent education budget cut on top of more than $324 million in cuts already proposed for the coming school year, a survey of New York City public schools shows that the current $100 million midyear cut to school budgets citywide is forcing many to drastically reduce or eliminate after-school programs, weekend classes and tutoring services, textbooks, instructional supplies, extracurricular activities and other services for children.
The cuts have also forced some schools to drop or cut back on teacher training and professional development programs meant to help educators hone their classroom skills, according to the survey conducted by the Keep The Promises Coalition. The coalition is a diverse group of parents, educators, education advocacy groups, community organizations, civic groups, clergy, labor unions and elected officials that formed to fight $700 million in immediate and proposed education budget cuts and reductions in promised aid imposed by the state and city in recent weeks.
Specifically, the survey of 375 schools shows that the $100 million cut already imposed on schools by the city Department of Education resulted in:
“The real classroom impact of the New York City Department of Education’s midyear cut of $100 million documented in this survey shows losses in programs, personnel, classrooms, safety measures, textbooks and supplies,” said Geri D. Palast, Executive Director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, a coalition that waged a successful 14-year court battle for more state education aid for New York City public schools.
“The cuts undermine and imperil the historic agreement to adequately fund the constitutional right to a sound, basic education established in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity litigation, and $600 million more in state and city cuts are threatened,” Palast continued. “After 15 years, our children have already paid with their futures. Elected officials must keep their promises and restore the funds lost to these cuts to make this right a reality.”
“Our survey shows that schools are struggling to absorb this year’s $100 million cut, so how are they expected to take another significant cut on top of the $324 million cut previously proposed for next year?” said United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
“The cuts are having an immediate and extremely detrimental effect on classrooms and instructional services for kids, and this makes it very difficult for our educators to achieve the kind of academic improvements demanded by parents and the public,” she said.
“These budget cuts will systematically reverse the progress principals, teachers, students and school communities have made, and that should be unacceptable to all New Yorkers,” said Ernest Logan, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators. “In times of economic uncertainty we should never sacrifice the education of our children,” he said.
“Anyone who says cuts in education funds don’t matter is blind to the fact that cuts in funds mean cuts in after-school programs, cuts in tutoring, cuts in school supplies,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education.
“Cuts in funding mean cuts in educational quality,” Easton continued. “This data clearly show the impact of the mayor’s broken promise on school funding. The city and the state must not break their promises to provide every child a quality education. This data show why it is that $700 million in cuts in city and state funding will mean fewer kids graduating from high school and going to college.”
Examples of how the cuts are affecting schools include:
PS 26 in Queens. The school, which received an “A” on the city school report cards, will end its after-school program in March instead of May and is cutting enrichment and remedial education programs. Money for instructional supplies are being cut as well.
“It’s terrible what they’re doing to us,” said UFT chapter leader Arlene Goodman, adding, “They keep demanding more from us while giving us less to work with.”
PS/IS 126 in Manhattan. “The midyear cuts mean we’re losing $118,000 that was going to be used to buy new computers, textbooks and instructional supplies,” said UFT chapter leader Barry Greenberg. “We’re also losing funding for per session, which means fewer teachers will be available to work with students after school.”
The Keep The Promises Coalition has planned a rally to protest city and state education cuts for March 19 at 4 p.m. at City Hall on Broadway south of Chambers Street.
Members of the Keep The Promises Coalition include Campaign for Fiscal Equity; Alliance for Quality Education; Council of School Supervisors and Administrators; United Federation of Teachers; Hispanic Federation of New York State; New York City Central Labor Council; ACORN; Education Voters of New York; New York City Coalition for Education Justice; New York Immigration Coalition; UNITE HERE; SEIU Local 32-BJ, New York Immigration Coalition; NAACP Metropolitan Council; El Centro de la Hospitalidad; Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Coalition for Asian American Children; representatives of the Chancellor’s Parents Advisory Committee; Advocates for Children; the Center for Arts Education; Coalition for Educational Excellence for English Language Learners; Make the Road by Walking New York; New Settlement Parent Action Committee; Crotona Committee to Stop the Violence; Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition; South Brooklyn Youth Consortium Inc.; Coalition for Asian American Children and Families; Highbridge Community Life Center; National Center for Schools and Communities, Cypress Hills Advocates for Education; Working Families Party; Citizen Action of New York; Coalition for After School Funding; Time Out From Testing; Class Size Matters.