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8 THE COURIER SUN • MARCH 2, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Queens residents join fight to save Obamacare BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport One of the 42nd Annual Queens County St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Rockaways deputy grand marshals is a native of the neighborhood: Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato. Pheffer Amato was named as one of the 15 deputy grand marshals for the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City during an installation ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Antun’s Banquet Hall in Queens Village at the 2017 Parade Dance. The 23rd Assembly District — which Pheffer Amato represents — includes areas on the Rockaway Peninsula called “The Irish Riviera,” where a large percentage of residents can trace their ancestry to the “Emerald Isle.” “I’ve been coming to the Queens County Parade since I was a kid, and my kids grew up coming. The parade is fun, it’s historic, and it’s one of the wonderful, festive occasions that make living in this diverse community such a delight year-round,” Pheffer Amato said. “To all of the Irish residents of the 23rd District, and to the Irish at heart, like myself: I am so proud and honored to join your parade this year as Photo: Gina Conteh/THE COURIER a deputy grand marshal.” A grand marshal, a Gael of the Year, two honorary grand marshals and 14 other deputy grand marshals, recruited from local, regional and state leadership and from the Hibernian community, were also installed during the ceremony. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held on Saturday, March 4, and will start with a Mass for Peace and Justice in Ireland at St. Francis de Sales Church, located at Beach 129th Street and Rockaway Boulevard. The parade itself will begin at 1 p.m. at Beach 130th Street and Newport Avenue. BY GINA CONTEH editorial@qns.com @QNS Health is a basic human right, not a privilege. That’s what concerned Queens residents said during a “Save Obamacare Rally” that state Senator Leroy Comrie held on Saturday at New Greater Bethel Ministries in Queens Village. The Feb. 25 event coincided with a “national call of action day” that Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders declared in an effort to save the Affordable Care Act from repeal. The ACA, also known as “Obamacare,” benefits many New Yorkers in and around the city. As of today, more than 3.6 million New Yorkers have healthcare through the ACA. Also, 2.4 million individuals receive Medicaid through the healthcare exchange. During the open enrollment between November 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017, 136,000 Queens residents signed up for Obamacare for the first time. Comrie invited state and city representatives to help citizens learn what Obamacare is, how to fight to save it and what will really happen if it is stripped from New York City residents. Marcy McCall of the New York State of Health was called up to inform people of what Obamacare does and how to get it. “I want to see everybody thrive, but you cannot thrive if you don’t have your health. So you need to be enrolled,” McCall said. She also urged everyone to become ambassadors for the Affordable Care Act. “Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your family members. Talk to people on the street,” McCall said. “Talk to everyone who will listen, because we are in for a fight.” City Comptroller Scott Stringer spoke about the disadvantages that hospitals will be at if the ACA is abolished. According to Stringer, if Obamacare gets taken away, the city’s hospitals will immediately lose $200 million in aid. “The health and hospital system in New York is already running on fumes,” Stringer said. “We can see what’s happening. We are disconnecting the healthcare system, and people are not getting access.” Stringer also pointed to the fact that many New York City residents need hospitals due to the fact that they cannot afford a primary care physician. Healthcare providers and professionals from around the city spoke to voice their concerns of the potential repeal of Obamacare. Individuals were given the chance to speak about how their lives or patients’ lives would be affected if this repeal took place. Groups represented were Jamaica Hospital Center, Planned Parenthood, the New York City Department of Health, J-CAP Inc., the Healthcare Education Project 1199, and the Center for the Independence for the Disabled. Tracey Kavanagh of the New York State Nurses Association spoke on behalf of the nurses in New York who all know how badly their patients will be affected by the repeal. Before speaking to the audience, both she and her colleague Gaile Beckford spoke of their concerns with The Courier. As a registered nurse at Flushing Hospital, Kavanagh’s main concern is the health of her patients who have preexisting conditions: “We’re all humans so most of us have preexisting conditions,” she said. Her fear is that in not knowing if healthcare will still be provided after the repeal, the cost will get too high for patients who need coverage for the rest of their lives. Beckford, also a registered nurse at Flushing Hospital, is most concerned about the health of new mothers and their babies who have been afforded many benefits under the ACA. “The family … is the center of the community,” Beckford said, adding that she fears families in Queens will be at a huge loss without the Affordable Care Act. Comrie urged everyone to continue to fight and handed out a pamphlets that informed attendees on what they can do to fight the repeal of Obamacare. These steps include calling senators and representatives of New York, sending letters or petitions to President Donald Trump, sharing personal stories, spreading the word among friends, attending rallies and using social media. DeVos Charters A Course Towards Disaster BY STATE SENATOR JAMES SANDERS JR. If there is one thing President Trump is good at, it’s making bad choices. From his misguided policies on immigration to his selection of alt-right mouthpiece Steve Bannon as his chief strategist, there is no doubt that his administration will be detrimental to our nation. Now we can add Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, to that list of “What was he thinking?” selections. DeVos is a billionaire philanthropist from Michigan with no experience as an educator or public administrator. She didn’t even send her own children to public schools. During her confirmation hearing, DeVos repeatedly fumbled on issues like student debt, education policy and growth and proficiency in student progress. Since the 1990’s, DeVos has led a crusade to increase charter schools in Michigan while decreasing public accountability regarding their outcomes. Most controversially, she supports a for-profit charter school model. While 79% of Michigan’s charter schools are located in Detroit thanks to her efforts, there is no evidence that these schools perform any better than the city’s public schools. In fact, the best schools in Detroit tend to be public schools. While DeVos claims that charter schools give families more “choice,” people who can’t navigate the complex admissions system or don’t have the means to send their children to schools in other neighborhoods tend to get left behind. The campaign for “choice” is not about helping children and families, it is about opening schools up to the free market. The NAACP and other groups have expressed concern that minority students suffer most when school deregulation takes hold. In addition, a report by the United Federation of Teachers noted that charter schools have a far smaller percentage of English Language learners, 6.5 percent compared to 14.5 percent in 2014- 2015, and students with disabilities, 14.3 percent compared to 20.8 percent for the same time period, in contrast to public schools in the same neighborhoods. While increased “free market” competition with charter schools might force public schools to adapt in the long term, in the short term they leave public schools struggling to maintain enough students to survive, and since funding is based on the number of students served, when enrollment drops, so does revenue.  The same Success Charter schools that spread in Harlem are now in South Jamaica, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens, and it is very likely we will experience many of the same tensions. Under those conditions, there is a need for the same careful regulation and oversight of charter schools, as there is for public schools. They must benefit the whole community, not just a narrow slice of it. The DeVos model of total deregulation and no-accountability is a recipe for the destabilization of our school districts. This is part of Senator Sanders’ “The Impact,” a weekly column focusing on President Trump’s policies and their impact on Southern Queens. Rookie lawmaker is St. Pat’s parade marshal Photo courtesy of Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato’s office


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