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Radio ad: Call 1-800-961-6198 to protest cuts
May 8, 2008 1:10 PM
One day after the mayor broke his funding promise to public school students in his executive budget, the Keep the Promises coalition saturated the air waves with radio ads and blitzed local newspapers with public service alerts about the damage that schoolchildren will suffer as a consequence.
“After decades of chronic under-funding, the state and the city together promised to substantially increase the budget for New York City public schools,” the announcer says in the ad that began running on May 2. “This new investment would help students get the education they need and deserve. New York State is keeping its promise to provide its share of the money — $600 million — but New York City is going back on its word.”
The ads, for which the coalition invested almost $1 million, do not deny that economic times are tough, but they hammer away at the fact that children’s basic right to a quality education cannot be deferred. The lost money will have a severe and direct impact on every classroom in every school, the ads emphasize, noting “that money could be used to ensure smaller class sizes, safer schools, access to pre-K, and quality principals and teachers.”
The ads urge New York City residents to call 1-800-961-6198 to tell the mayor and City Council to uphold their commitment to kids.
The coalition is made up of 60 groups of parents, educators, education advocacy groups, community organizations, civic groups, clergy, elected officials and labor unions — including the UFT — that formed in reaction to this year’s potential school budget cuts. The coalition worked hard together to get the state legislature and governor to keep their promises; now it is turning its attention to the city. The coalition believes the city’s announced cuts are especially disturbing at a time when the public school system is asking its students to achieve more at school and meet higher standards.
The ad campaign drives home the message to New York City residents that when children’s essential needs are not met because of the city’s misplaced priorities and choices, neither the children nor the city can ultimately thrive.
