NEW YORK—Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer joined several parents and students of the New York City Schools in front of Tweed Courthouse on Chambers street Wednesday in the latest string of protests against budget cuts aimed at public schools.
P.S. 333 Manhattan School for Children was the school selected for the June 18 protest, one of about 50 schools participating in the letter-writing campaign. A different school sends delegates to the steps of the courthouse every day to deliver letters written by students to Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein.
Vocal parents of youngsters at P.S. 333 described Manhattan School for Children (M.S.C) as an "exemplary special-needs inclusion school" and stated they would hate their children's school to lose money from the city budget.
"It's the government's choice on how to divide up scarce resources like money, but if the children aren't well educated, it will negatively impact all of society and lead to a rise in crime, drugs, and health problems," said activist parent Molly Gordy. Gordy fears that the $450 million dollar budget cuts would directly affect the classroom. "We already have 30-35 children in each class, so imagine what the additional cuts would do," she added.
A mother of four children who all have gone to public schools at some point in their lives, Gordy remained adamant in her plea to have the city make budget cuts elsewhere. "Our children are the number one priority. I'm an avid biker, but if a bike path has to go, then take from that instead of from our children's education."
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