Hey, school cuts aren't my fault - Sheldon Silver slams Mayor Bloomberg
BY ERIN EINHORN and CARRIE MELAGO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Friday, May 23rd 2008, 4:00 AM
Powerful State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver lashed out at Mayor Bloomberg and his schools chancellor Thursday for trying to blame school budget cuts on the state.
"That's a smokescreen," Silver said. "The chancellor's cuts are for one reason and one reason alone. And that is that the mayor's proposed budget contains cuts. Period."
Chancellor Joel Klein says strings attached to state budget dollars requiring him to spare the city's neediest schools from the brunt of budget cuts have forced him to wallop successful and coveted schools like Stuyvesant High School and the New York City Lab School.
The Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan would lose more of its budget than any other school, taking a 6.09% cut - $224,706. And Bronx Science faces a 5.34% cut, or $825,448.
But Klein says that if Silver and other pols in Albany agree to relax some of the state rules, he'll be able to soften the blow to those schools and ensure that none loses more than a modest 1.4% of its budget.
At a meeting about the budgets with a few dozen city principals last night, he said he was fighting to make his budget cuts more equitable.
"If I can get financial parity, some of that money will show up in your budgets," he said.
Meanwhile, he urged them to reach out to parents in their schools about the issue.
"You're school leaders," he said. "Your community needs to be informed and also reassured."
Silver insisted that Albany won't relax the rules and the parents of the hardest-hit schools do not yet seem to be clamoring for a change.
cmelago@nydailynews.com
With Adam Lisberg and Kathleen Lucadamo
Thursday, May 29, 2008
NY Daily News - School group to 'air' gripe
School group to 'air' gripe
BY Carrie Melago
Sunday, May 25th 2008, 4:00 AM
Critics of school budget cuts are taking their message to new heights.
A single-engine plane carrying a banner that reads "Mayor Bloomberg, keep your promise to schools" will fly over several city beaches Sunday.
The Keep the Promises Coalition, made up of the teachers union and other education advocates, has been hammering Bloomberg and schools Chancellor Joel Klein about the cuts, which are expected to slash $99 million from schools next year.
The plane will pass several times over Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach before flying up the Hudson River toward the George Washington Bridge.
BY Carrie Melago
Sunday, May 25th 2008, 4:00 AM
Critics of school budget cuts are taking their message to new heights.
A single-engine plane carrying a banner that reads "Mayor Bloomberg, keep your promise to schools" will fly over several city beaches Sunday.
The Keep the Promises Coalition, made up of the teachers union and other education advocates, has been hammering Bloomberg and schools Chancellor Joel Klein about the cuts, which are expected to slash $99 million from schools next year.
The plane will pass several times over Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach before flying up the Hudson River toward the George Washington Bridge.
City Council Members Vow to Oppose Cuts
Council Members Vow to Oppose Bloomberg School Budget Cuts
by Elaine Rivera
NEW YORK, NY May 28, 2008 —More than 20 council members say they will oppose the Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed budget if he does not restore more than $400 million in school cuts.
At yet another large rally at City Hall, elected officials came together with education activists and parents to protest the cuts. Brooklyn Councilman Bill DeBlasio says there's a budget surplus and that education should be a top priority.
DEBLASIO: We found money for Yankee Stadium, and the Mets new stadium and the Nets arena you know we've got to be able to find money to keep the level of teaching we have and to keep the classroom services intact.
REPORTER: But Mayor Bloomberg says that the cuts come after years of increases and says the the Department of Education can't escape the budget ax. Otherwise, other agencies would face even stiffer cuts.
by Elaine Rivera
NEW YORK, NY May 28, 2008 —More than 20 council members say they will oppose the Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed budget if he does not restore more than $400 million in school cuts.
At yet another large rally at City Hall, elected officials came together with education activists and parents to protest the cuts. Brooklyn Councilman Bill DeBlasio says there's a budget surplus and that education should be a top priority.
DEBLASIO: We found money for Yankee Stadium, and the Mets new stadium and the Nets arena you know we've got to be able to find money to keep the level of teaching we have and to keep the classroom services intact.
REPORTER: But Mayor Bloomberg says that the cuts come after years of increases and says the the Department of Education can't escape the budget ax. Otherwise, other agencies would face even stiffer cuts.
Letter to Chancellor Klein
Joel Klein, School Chancellor
52 Chambers Street
New York, N.Y. 10007
Dear Chancellor Klein:
I am certain that you would not dispute that a strong, structured and consistent educational foundation plays an important role in fostering academic success. Middle school is a time when students are going through major life changes; transitioning from childhood into their early teens. This is a time when decisions will be made that not only affect their academic careers, but their entire future. It is therefore, especially important for students to be academically challenged, by teachers and administrators who have high expectations of them, nurtured and given space to grow and feel safe.
Philippa Schuyler has already suffered two major blows that make it extremely challenging to maintain a stable, achievement oriented environment. The students were severely traumatized earlier in the academic year when an alternative school for students having multiple suspensions was placed inside Philippa Schuyler without the knowledge or input of the parents. Two I.S. 383 students were assaulted by the students of the alternative program and hospitalized. The result was far worse than the physical damage the victims received. It fostered an environment of fear and uneasiness amongst all of the students who have worked hard to go to a school they believed to be free of such dangers. The second major blow is the gargantuan budget cut of one hundred six thousand three hundred forty four dollars ($106,344.00) that Schuyler will incur which makes it extremely difficult to finance an already tightly budgeted specialized program.
The Department of Education has agreed to remove the alternative to suspension school for which we are grateful; however in its place we are being pressed to accept more than four hundred students and staff from Achievement First Bushwick Charter School. We believe that our now fragile program, which has already suffered enough disruption and disorder, could not survive another severe blow and remain the safe, fun, high achieving program that it has been for the past three decades. For this reason, we ask you to use your influence to persuade the NYC Department of Education not to place Achievement First Charter School inside of I.S. 383, Philippa Schuyler Middle School.
Understanding that Achievement First Bushwick Charter School does need a place to establish itself, we suggest that the Department of Education’s district office located on 797 Bushwick Avenue would be a suitable alternative. This will create a win-win situation as we believe that Philippa Schuyler as well as Achievement First deserves to succeed. The plan to co-locate these two schools does not serve the best interest of either school.
Thank you.
Respectfully Yours,
52 Chambers Street
New York, N.Y. 10007
Dear Chancellor Klein:
I am certain that you would not dispute that a strong, structured and consistent educational foundation plays an important role in fostering academic success. Middle school is a time when students are going through major life changes; transitioning from childhood into their early teens. This is a time when decisions will be made that not only affect their academic careers, but their entire future. It is therefore, especially important for students to be academically challenged, by teachers and administrators who have high expectations of them, nurtured and given space to grow and feel safe.
Philippa Schuyler has already suffered two major blows that make it extremely challenging to maintain a stable, achievement oriented environment. The students were severely traumatized earlier in the academic year when an alternative school for students having multiple suspensions was placed inside Philippa Schuyler without the knowledge or input of the parents. Two I.S. 383 students were assaulted by the students of the alternative program and hospitalized. The result was far worse than the physical damage the victims received. It fostered an environment of fear and uneasiness amongst all of the students who have worked hard to go to a school they believed to be free of such dangers. The second major blow is the gargantuan budget cut of one hundred six thousand three hundred forty four dollars ($106,344.00) that Schuyler will incur which makes it extremely difficult to finance an already tightly budgeted specialized program.
The Department of Education has agreed to remove the alternative to suspension school for which we are grateful; however in its place we are being pressed to accept more than four hundred students and staff from Achievement First Bushwick Charter School. We believe that our now fragile program, which has already suffered enough disruption and disorder, could not survive another severe blow and remain the safe, fun, high achieving program that it has been for the past three decades. For this reason, we ask you to use your influence to persuade the NYC Department of Education not to place Achievement First Charter School inside of I.S. 383, Philippa Schuyler Middle School.
Understanding that Achievement First Bushwick Charter School does need a place to establish itself, we suggest that the Department of Education’s district office located on 797 Bushwick Avenue would be a suitable alternative. This will create a win-win situation as we believe that Philippa Schuyler as well as Achievement First deserves to succeed. The plan to co-locate these two schools does not serve the best interest of either school.
Thank you.
Respectfully Yours,
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