As school districts plan to reopen in the fall — whether in person, remote, or a combination of the two — and beyond, one thing is certain: our students deserve a quality education, and that basic right is being denied to too many Black, Brown and low-income students. Our children deserve a school reopening that is just, equitable and safe.
And there is no way to have just schools, no way to have safe schools, without adequate and equitable funding.
Over the last three months the Governor has been adamantly against raising any revenue by increasing the income tax on the ultra rich even by one percentage point, which would yield enough revenue to stave off cuts to public schools. The choice he has made, with our legislative leaders standing idly by allowing him to make it, is to gut the safety net and the public education system.
It is time now for our state to take a bold stand. Send an email to Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie now. Demand they put our children’s future above millionaires’ and billionaires’ profits.