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May 15, 2012

NY School Budget Caps: Do They Work for Students of Color?

By  Mike Clifford / Public News Service


NEW YORK - Voters will be deciding the fates of school budgets and school board candidates all across the state today, and when it comes to immigrant issues, one town on Long Island with a large Latino population may be a key indicator of things to come. 

The Brentwood student body is 75 percent Latino, according to Alexandra Sanjuan with Make the Road New York. She says the budget issues in this small town are a reliable indicator of how ready the state is to deal with the needs of immigrant students in New York.

"We don't need 73 teachers to be cut out, and part of the budget should be more security in the schools, because we are having issues inside the schools, and we don't want these problems to get bigger."

Sanjuan says roughly 90 percent of school districts statewide have put budgets on the ballot that fall within the taxing limits imposed by Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers.

Ruth Negron-Gaines with the NAACP on Long Island says a recent candidate's forum helped to shine a light on the needs of students of color.

"They talked about the district's finances, the diversity within the community, the classroom sizes, the fact that we need to hire more people of color to reflect the community."

Three seats are being contested in the Brentwood School District today. Three of the six candidates attended the forum last week hosted by the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, Long Island WINS and Noticia.

For original article, click here.


More on: Public Education 

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Victory for Immigrant Families: Preventing Unjust Deportations in NYC

On March 18, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg signed new legislation to stop federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using NYC’s criminal justice system to deport thousands of New Yorkers.

Building on legislation we helped to win just over a year ago, Local Laws 21 and 22 prohibit not only the Department of Correction but now also the NYPD from spending millions of city taxpayer dollars to hold individuals on behalf of ICE agents for detention and deportation. Each year, thousands of New York families will stay together who would otherwise have been torn apart by overly aggressive, indiscriminate immigration enforcement.

At a moment when the country is debating immigration reform, with these laws, New York City sends a clear message to Washington that tearing apart thousands of immigrant families is bad policy.

With your support, we look forward to winning national reform that keeps families together. We thank our partners at the Center for Popular Democracy, the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic and the bills’ sponsors, NYC Council Speaker Quinn and Council Member Mark-Viverito, for their courageous leadership.


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