RALLY AGAINST CUTS
Protesters call proposed 20 percent reduction in state education aid ‘devastating’
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Citizen Action of New York and the Alliance for Quality Education held a rally Saturday afternoon at Kingston High School to protest Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s threat to withhold 20 percent of state aid to schools.
Organizers said such a cut “would be devastating for the region’s public schools.”
Protesters said the threatened cut, in the midst of a pandemic-driven fiscal crisis, would amount to a loss of $14 million in funding for Kingston schools.
They demanded that state leaders stand in support of public education.
In a prepared statement issued after the rally, Linnea Masson, a Citizen Action Education Committee member, said, “Last February, we were in Al
bany fighting for the $12 million our schools were already owed by New York state. Now, with Governor Cuomo’s threat to cut 20 percent of state school aid, Kingston City Schools could be cut by $14 million more. This is unacceptable.
“We need our state legislators to raise taxes on the rich and fully fund our schools,” Masson said.
Demonstrators on Saturday
carried signs reading “Tax the Rich” and “Stand up for SUNY.”
Also in a prepared statement, Sheila Jones, the parent of a Kingston High School student and a member of the local Citizen Action Education Committee said, “My kids are already struggling with online learning, and they were struggling in school, too. They need more support, not less.”
The Kingston event coincided with other rallies in cities across the state
Saturday, protesting the proposed school aid cuts.
The looming cuts have also generated concern from New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the union for public school teachers, which signaled Wednesday it is braced to initiate a lawsuit challenging the reductions.
NYSUT’s president, Andy Pallotta, argued that cuts that jeopardize the ability of school districts to provide a “sound, basic education” would violate the constitutional rights of the affected children.
It remains unclear whether state lawmakers will return to Albany to take up the issue of aid cuts to school districts. All incumbent state lawmakers, with the exception of those leaving office at year’s end, are now in the throes of their own re-election campaigns.
Rally participants in Kingston on Saturday wore masks and maintained social distance in accordance with COVID-19 safety precautions.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.