Hundreds rally in Albany for Governor and Legislature to reinvest in NY's public schools
By: Jennifer Lee
Updated: December 5, 2012
A group of activists from Central New York and across the state headed to Albany on Wednesday.
They called for the Governor and Legislature to re-invest in New York's public schools.
Eyewitness News Reporter Jennifer Lee spoke with teachers about how cuts to the classroom are affecting their students.
As governor Cuomo is preparing the 2013 budget, students, parents and teachers are traveling to Albany today to protest policies that have forced schools to make cut backs in the classroom.
Over 700 activists all across the state hopped on a bus tour to make their voices heard.
Buses stopped at various locations on the way to the capitol, picking up more people, one of them being Utica at JFK Middle School.
"We've lost an elementary art teacher; we lost art electives at the high school. We've lost a language teacher," said retired Central New York school teacher, Sandra Bliss. And the list goes on and on she says.
Sandra is one of the many participants rallying to seek more funding for schools in New York, particularly for the Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District.
She says like many other schools in central New York, they're facing more cutbacks in the coming years.
And she says something needs to be done before it's too late.
"We're beginning to find children that cannot compete with children in wealthy school districts in terms of getting into college because they don't have the background," said Bliss.
A teacher from Rochester says any students can compete if given the proper resources and support.
But, Daniel Delehanty says without it, New York public schools will be facing a long road ahead of them.
"We are creating a system in the state of districts that have and other districts that have not. The system of haves and have not's violates the constitutional duty," said Delehanty.
Mr. Delehanty is referring to the court ruling of the campaign for fiscal equity case involving the state's education system.
The activists say the governor and legislature need to fulfill the court-ordered commitment to increase the funding for the neediest school districts in the state- which means providing every child with a "sound basic education."
