It’s been a terrible year for New York City schools. It kicked off when the city announced $405 million worth of cuts back in May. Then, the summer’s charter application season saw more attempts by private contractors to funnel off money and talent from the public school system, including two heated battles in our own district. They’ve begun discussing removing caps on the number of charter schools allowed in the state, and last month the state proposed an additional mid-year cut of $686 million from the education system. And today marks the last day of employment for 500 New York City public school aides.
Yes, it’s shaping up to be a terrible school year, and we’re not even halfway through it. That’s why, over in Manhattan Beach, leaders of the Manhattan Beach Community Group are organizing a letter-writing campaign to the state representatives in order to battle the $686 million mid-year cut. About a third of that, $223 million, is slated specifically for the city’s school system. MBCG writes:
Our children will be losing out again. Please take a moment and call our Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz and ask him to vote against these cuts … Don’t let our children get short changed. Cut the fat. Cut the waste. Leave schools alone. Let our children learn.
We agree. That’s why we’re joining them in asking all of our readers to contact your state senator and state assemblyman. Contact information for representatives in our area are below. If you need to know who represents you, click here. Remind our representatives to protect our children and their education. Tell them hands-off on schools.
State Senator Martin J. Golden
718-238-6044 - golden@senate.state.ny.us
State Senator Carl Kruger
718-743-8610 - kruger@senate.state.ny.us
State Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz
718-743-4078 - CymbroS@assembly.state.ny.us
State Assemblyman Alan Maisel
718-968-2770 - MaiselA@ assembly.state.ny.us
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You know. It’s really tough to take this point of view, but the fact of the matter is cuts DO need to be made. Where exactly are we supposed to make them?
I’ll support the idea that Education should be the LAST place we make cuts, not the first, but can anyone honestly say any of these cuts are avoidable with the budget gaps we’re facing?
We could increase the taxes on those who can afford to pay more taxes.
Yes, we should certainly increase taxes on the rich. But we still need to cut spending.
I’m not arguing that cuts need to be made in both the state and city budget. But educational spending cuts appear to be disproportionately larger than cuts anywhere else. And in these economic times we should be spending MORE on sectors of the budget that will pay off tomorrow. That means education, libraries, (preventative) healthcare, and anything else that improves the efficiency of the city and the skills of its workers.
What should be cut are non-essential programs. When the economy is crumbling, I don’t think the city should be spending money on planting trees or removing graffitti. These days, things like this make rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic look positively pragmatic.
But beyond the cuts, both the city and state need to be looking at ways to improve the efficiency of every dollar spent. The School Construction Authority, the MTA, the police department – hell, almost every sector of government is wrought with bureaucracy and can be improved by a reevaluation of entire institutions. And they should do it regularly.
The city should also look to see what they can do with the un- and under-employed workers that’ll save the city money and give us a more stable future. When recession hits, there’s the same ol’ tune. “Quick! Plan a bunch of construction projects so we can create jobs!” I call shenanigans. Construction workers aren’t the only people out of work, and often the jobs created are temporary. Instead, for example, look at the thousands of unemployed computer programmers and let them develop new systems for the city that can save taxpayer money.
That’s just one example of a more creative way of dealing with overspending. But instead, I’m sure another round of school cuts will slip into the budget…
A lot of “non-essentials” have essential elements. Tree planting fulfills a federal environmental imperative, and additionally, its funding comes from a variety of sources, including foundation and corporate grants. Environmental scientists could explain better than I could the necessity of this restoration.
http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/html/involved/month.shtml
This isn’t some “feel good” display of altruism. It’s an attempt to reverse a long term neglect of our ecosystem.
Which leads us to discussing the responsibility of those who have managed to this date to avoid the worst consequences of our current financial crisis. Why do we have such a problem with the notion that those who benefit more from our economic system should give more back to it? In the end, they benefit as much as everyone else.
But that isn’t even on the table for discussion.
I won’t even start publicly discussing the SCA, and the City’s failed attempt to remove the corruption and waste from that sub-agency. It’s just too disgusting.
This is to Ned Berke and any of the readers/participants of this arena. Ned have you ever considered doing some more in the way of investigative work and not just directing the findings at the establishment or “status quo” so to speak. Yes it is out there and much of your info is relevant but there are stories out there that are being by passed, Activisim should be aimed equally, not just at the high profile folk. The so called little guys have plenty of skeletons in their closets hiding. At least take a peek.
Arthur we can certainly increase taxes on the rich but what will happen when there will be no “rich” left? Who cares if they are cutting school spending? Increased spending is not correllated to the quality of education. The educational system needs to be reexamined and reassesed but the subject of this is beyond this post.