for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com OCTOBER 31, 2013 • kids & education • The Queens Courier 53 A Yes Vote On Proposal #1 A Yes For Our Schools, Our Kids & Our Economy BY KEITH WRIGHT Let’s be honest: our schools are struggling. Our kids are sitting in crumbling classrooms, and if they are able to graduate at all (half of them aren’t), they are not prepared for college and careers. Even worse, our schools aren’t failing all students equally: they are especially bad when it comes to educating minority and lower income students. Only 28% of African-American and Latino boys who enroll in a New York City high school will graduate within four years. That graduation rate has not budged in the past decade, and we can’t expect it to while we, as a society, fail to prioritize our schools. Our school districts are suffering from a funding crisis. New York City’s teachers are dedicated and hardworking, but they are not miracle workers. They cannot teach a child to read without having a book for him to read. And right now, the New York State budget cannot spare the millions of dollars we need to properly fund our schools. When the state can’t help out, the gaps in the New York City public school system budget tend to be filled by parents. At schools in higher income areas, parents will do things like organize galas and auctions to raise money for the schools budget. The parents will fund supposed “non-essentials” like a new textbooks or arts programs. But that model only works for schools with highly involved and wealthier parents. At other schools, no one steps in, budgets are slashed, and the students suffer. Proposal #1 can help change that. It will bring $94.4 million each year to help fund New York City schools. That money will pay for teachers’ salaries, school supplies, and special education. It will pay for field trips and textbooks. That’s $94.4 million that will no longer have to be paid for out of our taxes. Ask any parent, student, or teacher whether their public school could do a better job if it had just a few thousand more dollars, and I assure you they will say yes. There’s $94.4 million here for the taking. Every year, New Yorkers spend an estimated $1.2 billion at casinos in other neighboring states and Canada. All we need to do to bring that money back to New York is to vote yes on Prop One. The casinos want to come to New York. They know that casino gaming in New York State will build on our state’s existing top-notch tourism infrastructure. Our construction workers are eager to build world-class casinos. The business community, hoping to kickstart our sputtering economic, is just as welcoming. And best of all, we get millions for the New York City school system. Better schools help everyone. A better public school system brings better jobs, more equality, more investment, and a growing economy. The future of our economy lies in an educated and highly skilled workforce. In an economy still recovering from the “Great Recession,” we shouldn’t forget the present, and Prop One certainly doesn’t do that. The New York State budget office estimates that it will create 10,000 construction and permanent jobs in the next two years. Many of them will be in upstate, close to the casinos, but they will cause a ripple effect that creates jobs downstate. A yes vote on Proposal #1 is a yes vote for our schools, our kids, and our economy. Keith Wright is chair of the NYS Democratic Party WelcomeTo the scouting family ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS-DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN SACRED HEART CATHOLIC ACADEMY 115-50 221 Street • Cambria Heights, New York 11411 718-527-0123 (phone) • 718-527-1204 (fax) “One in FAITH, to Instruct, Instill, and Inspire” We are one in Faith, working together with reverence for God and with respect for one another. We strive to instruct, instill and inspire each other to be productive Catholic Christian members of society. Our students learn the values and traditions of Faith as we incorporate them in each and every academic and extracurricular activity. Each child is encouraged to discover and appreciate his/her personal worth and value to the community of God’s people. We strive to provide the children with opportunities to develop their fullest potential, coupled with the ability to honestly evaluate their own efforts and accomplishments through daily challenges. In order to instill Faith, we root ourselves in Faith. In order to instruct about Faith, we educate ourselves. In order to inspire a Faith response, we strive to live as ministers of His Word. Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00 am-12 noon Prepared. For Life.™ OPEN HOUSE: For more info visit us at: http://www.beascout.org
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