Public education is the government’s promise of a hopeful future for children everywhere. It’s the stepping stone, the shining light, the leg up out of poverty and into prosperity.
But in New York State today, with the most economically and racially segregated classrooms in the nation and a 50% child poverty rate, our governor says there is “no appetite” for the fiscal measures that would fulfill that promise and fairly fund our schools.
Shocking, isn’t it?
According to a lawsuit filed by parents with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, New York State has systematically discriminated against districts with black, Latino, and poor students by inadequately funding their education. And, according to a landmark settlement in 2006, the state owes New York City schools alone over $2 billion out of a total $5.9 billion. (Find out how much your district is owed.) But the state still refuses to pay up, and the Republican-led senate majority continues to prefer to aid private schools rather than pay what it owes to public, non-charter schools.
Today, a 1% tax on the 1%—those earning $665,000 or more annually—would raise over $2 billion in funding for education.
It’s time to #StandUp4Kids. Our children’s futures shouldn’t be determined by skin color, pocket book, or zip code—or the “appetite” of legislators whose election campaigns are funded by hedge fund CEOs or billionaires.
Here’s what you can do, right now:
- Sign the Color of Change petition to Governor Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Flanagan demanding that they #StandUp4Kids. Do it now, and share it so we can keep collecting signatures until the budget session ends late this month.
- Support our beleaguered CUNY by telling the Governor to stop playing politics with professors’ salaries and underfunded student resources. Tell Albany the budget MUST invest in CUNY; support the Professional Staff Congress; and attend the Don’t Let CUNY Die Budget Protest on Thursday, March 24th.
We urge you to stand with the Alliance for Quality Education, Citizen Action of New York, savvy egalitarian groups like the Hedge Clippers, and others in demanding that all our kids get the fair shake they deserve.