Parents, students march on Capitol
Event organized to speak out for education funding ahead of planned cuts
When Bella Pramanik, a junior at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy, first heard about the drastic cuts to next year’s Hartford Public Schools budget, she knew she had to speak out.
The high school student, who has an interest in studying math and statistics in college, helped organize a couple dozen parents, fellow students and advocates to march to the state Capitol on Wednesday to speak out for more education funding.
Hartford Public Schools held a half-day for teacher conferences, allowing students to participate in the rally. Many held signs as they marched along Capitol Avenue.
“This budget is really scary,” Pramanik said. “As a student, I may not see all of my teachers next year or have the classes available that I want to take. With less teachers, there most likely will be less AP classes available. As a student who likes to take more rigorous classes, I don’t want to see a school next year where they don’t offer anything that allows me a better chance to get into top colleges.”
Pramanik, holding a sign that read “Protect, Provide, Preserve Our Education!,” said that the mood in her school has been gloomy since the budget passed last week.
“Many of my classmates are concerned,” Pramanik said. “We don’t know what to expect.”
The district, which faced a $77 million budget deficit earlier this year, cut $40.9 million in current spending and mitigated $32.5 million to close the gap, according to budget documents. The $429 million budget passed on a unanimous vote of board of education members, who said they had no choice but to move forward with the funds they’ve been allocated.
Among the cuts are 387 staff positions, including 67 at the district’s central administrative office. The remaining 320 positions represent 11% of total school staff, according to the district. Teachers and direct service positions including instructional coaches, school health providers, school psychologists and speech and language specialists were all eliminated. Pink slips are slated to go out April 30, the district said.
“I don’t think how they understand that cutting mental health professionals really affects us as students,” said Bulkeley High School senior Kebra-nagast Takahashi. “Next year without the therapists, counselors, and social workers it’s not going to be the same. We’ve developed that bond and level of trust within those professionals to keep us sane in the school. Yes, teach
ers help. But without that support, it’s not going to be the same.”
Takahashi, who is student body president, said that while he will be graduating in June, he is advocating for his friends who will be attending Bulkeley next year.
“Everybody is on edge,” Takahashi said. “Teachers are on edge, counselors are on edge, students are on edge. I wouldn’t be surprised if people have already started searching for new jobs. It’s that bad.”
Fellow Bulkeley student Nayelis Negron Pinto said that she has seen a noticeable shift in her teachers since the Board of Education passed the budget.
“One of our teachers told us that he was nervous that he may not have a job next year,” Pinto said. “You can sense the shift in our teachers. Our teachers seem more stressed and nervous than usual. It’s really affected the entire mood of the school.”
Parents also took to the sidewalk, demanding more funding for their kids’ education.
“When I heard the news about the budget, my stomach dropped,” said Hartford parent Logan Singerman. “I was actually planning for my daughter to apply to HMTCA for sixth grade. But my stomach dropped when I realized that the school we applied to a month ago, is not the same school she would attend.”
Singerman, who also has a son who attending Annie Fisher Montessori Magnet School, said that he was caught off guard by the level of cuts in the budget.
“While there’s always a budget fight and certain level of callousness, it really struck a nerve in me and really left me devastated,” Singerman said. “Knowing all the teachers and families I am friends with and how much they are fighting for every resource they have, to then have the rug pulled out from underneath them, I’m very concerned.”
Carol Gale, president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, speaking into a megaphone, said that the budget is “a bad deal” for Hartford teachers and students. Gale said she has been pleading with the city for years for more education funding.
Mayor Arunan Arulampalam’s recent $623 million budget proposal kept education funding flat with no additional increases. Education spending, to which the city allocates $284 million, represents zero increase over the last decade despite rising costs. He contends the majority of district funding comes from the state.
“Funding education has got to be a higher priority for our city council as well as our state,” Gale said. “But to flat fund us for 10 years solid is problematic. I understood it in the beginning. Back in 2017, the city was in financial ruin and all cities across the state took wage freezes. Hartford Federation of Teachers was one of those. I said to my union, we need to do this, for the better of the city.
“But we’re not in the same boat anymore. The state just gave 2.5% raises to all state employees. The issue is we need to prioritize education. We are simply not doing that.”