It’s about fairness–and futures.
In a recent open letter to Governor Cuomo, seven illustrious New York State Teachers of the Year urged him to look beyond test scores to see why students fail in school. Beyond the “achievement gap,” they noted, is “an income gap, a health-care gap, a housing gap, a family gap and a safety gap, just to name a few.”
The problem is poverty–and its root cause is the failure to allocate resources in communities that most need them. Today, New York State has the most economically and racially segregated classrooms in the nation. Unless we change the way our money is spent, we’ll continue on the same path.
Money matters for educational outcomes. A study released this week by the Alliance for Quality Education and the Public Policy and Education Fund of New York shows that New York City’s public schools are owed $2.5 billion in funding, or $2,667 per student. That’s huge. That’s smaller classroom sizes, libraries, art programs, special learning programs, safer and more secure spaces. Above all, it’s the future of kids.
The educational needs of our state’s and city’s students will be determined by the budget decided in Albany this March 31st.
We urge you to demand that the governor fully and fairly fund our public schools. #WeCan’tWait. Our kids’ futures can’t wait. At stake are the multiple gaps that begin and end in poverty.
Get engaged. Read the report. Join the campaign. Petition the governor. And join the Moral Mondays commitment to fairness in education.
Remember: The budget is a moral document.