QW09222019 - Page 8

16 QUEENS WEEKLY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019 Funding call for true equity and I will continue advocacy efforts at City Hall.” According to the FSF formula, Bayside High School was slated to receive $17.47 million for the 2020- 21 school year but instead got only $14.3 million. The chronic low funding resulted in the school cutting the career and technical programs (CTE), which is a significant draw for the 12,000 annual applicants. The PTA added that the school is the largest CTE school in the DOE. Paul DiBenedetto, president of the Bayside High PTA, said that while funding is supposed to be based on the needs of each student, the DOE discounts the percentage of Fair Student Funding it provides to schools. “Our research shows a tale of two systems: over 130 small high schools receive 100 percent to 128 percent of their amount due. Other schools get 90 percent to 99 percent of theirs. The lowest funded are the large schools like Bayside- no schools get lower funding in terms of real dollars per student than Bayside,” DiBenedetto said. DiBenedetto said their efforts to engage the DOE have been respectful, but met with false responses, silence and disrespect. “Literally thousands of residents and parents contacted the DOE to provide equitable funding, but they refuse to listen. Isn’t this DOE supposed to be all about community and parent involvement?” DiBenedetto said. “The school graduates 97-98 percent of its kids each year with almost all going straight to colleges. Is the DOE penalizing excellence?” In a statement to QNS, Danielle Filson, deputy press secretary of the DOE, said the administration has added over $5 billion in education funding, including raising the Fair Student Funding percentage at Bayside High School as well as adding Career Technical Education and College Access funding to the school. “The school has six CTE programs, and no programs are being cut. We’ll be able to fund all schools at 100 percent Fair Student Funding when the State pays the $1.1 billion it owes the City,” Filson said. There is a $750 million shortfall in Fair Student Funding as a result of the State’s failure to abide by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity settlement. The DOE has invested over $1 billion cumulatively since FY 2015 to raise the Fair Student Funding floor from 81 percent to 90 percent for all schools. Bayside High School received an additional $250K in funding this month based on increases in student enrollment. The Executive Superintendent and Superintendent have been in touch with the PTA and will be attending the next PTA Executive Board meeting and SLT meeting, the DOE said. Continued from Page 1 Sunnyside hoods,” said Patricia Chou, a Queens Neighborhoods United organizer. Along with the existing transit infrastructure, Chakrabarti said the deck would be equipped with roads wide enough to handle bus service. “Strained infrastructure, we know that, we’ve heard that from a lot of people, but none the less infrastructure that can be improved upon,” Chakrabarti continued. “The process has really been driven, we feel, by the public. We’ve had many, many meetings and gotten a lot of input. Not just input about specific aspects of the plan but also what the identity of Queens is and we want to be true to that identity in the spirit of this place.” On the western end of the site, Chakrabarti said there is potential for a long-awaited Sunnyside Station on for LIRR riders, which has federal funding, but has yet to be built by the MTA. Whether or not Sunnysiders would be cast beneath a constant shadow from the deck and the buildings combined was a concern which the EDC said it had taken into account to prevent. Garbage and other services would be handled within the “thickness of the structural deck,” Chakrabarti said. A 45-year resident of Sunnyside said her neighborhood is diminishing without the development as it is and posed the question to Meager of how it is expected to effect communities. “We would want this to be a world where Sunnyside is still very much Sunnyside, and strengthened by the development,” Meager said. The Sunnyside Yards project is expected to cover a space seven times the size as Hudson Yards, which has attracted its share of criticism since its completion such as the unaffordability of the housing, the cost of the project and the return on investment for the city. Continued from Page 1 City Councilman Paul Vallone speaks at a rally outside Bayside High School on Sept. 13. Photo: Carlotta Mohamed/QNS TOP $ PAID FOR JUDAICA COLLECTIBLES HOUSE CALLS SAME SAME DAY DAY SERVICE SERVICE AVAILABLE AVAILABLE HOUSE CALLS SERVING QUEENS AND THE ENTIRE TRI-STATE AREA ANTIQUES AND ESTATE BUYERS WE PAY $ CASH $ FOR ALL GOLD, GOLD & STERLING SILVER COSTUME JEWELRY, ALL COINS, PAPER MONEY & STAMP COLLECTIONS ALL GOLD...BROKEN OR NOT PRE- 1960 FURNITURE, CLOCKS & WATCHES (WORKING OR NOT) TIFFANY, BACCARAT, LALIQUE �� The List is Endless YERS SEE OUR AD IN THE SUNDAY POST �� ASK FOR CHRISTOPHER www.AntiqueAndEstateBuyers.com �� for Antique �� ANTIQ �� ES �� MILITARY Collections Wanted Swords, Knives, Helmets, etc. ANTIQUES AND ESTATE BUYERS We buy anything old. One piece or house full. WILL TRAVEL. WE MAKE HOUSE CALLS. �� FREE Estimate WILL TRAVEL ENTIRE TRI-STATE �� /www.AntiqueAndEstateBuyers.com