WAR ON NY STUDENTS, PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS, AND POOR

WBAI’s Radio Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report 
Monday, January 31, 2011, 7- 8 pm EST, over 99.5 FM or streaming live at http://wbai.org      
Produced & Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash 
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NYC students demand: don’t close school doors

Bloomberg Stop The Snow Job On Public Schools!

with
. Stefanie Siegel, teacher, Paul Robeson High School
. Lowena Howard, teacher, Paul Robeson High School
. Letitia Ingram-Brown, teacher, Paul Robeson High School
. Lizabeth Cooper, student, Paul Robeson High School
plus
Highlights from the Stop Schools Closing Rally

Bloomberg’s Department of Education (DOE) plans to close 26 more schools this year. Despite the DOE’s claim that these school closings are aimed at reforming schools, they have instead opened the door to privately-run charter schools and have limited school options for those affected. According to the accounts by parents, students and teachers, DOE policies have had the effect of undermining the schools that are slated to be closed, not “fixing” them.  Bloomberg has played a shell game with our most vulnerable children, shuffling them around from closing school to closing school. This process has disproportionately affected students of color, only serving to further perpetuate a separate and unequal school system in New York City.  A discussion about and sounds from a rally for quality resources and support for our public schools, not closings and privatization!
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Teachers are seen at a rally outside the Brooklyn Tech High School Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010, where they were protesting school closings. (Photo by Robert Mecea)

Bloomberg and Cuomo Declare War on Public Sector Workers,
Public Services and the Poor

with
. Arthur Cheliotes, President, Local 1180, CWA
. Diane Savino, NY State Senator

In a one-two punch both Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo are attacking public sector workers and their unions. Both are demanding benefit and pension concessions and are threatening large scale layoffs to balance their budgets. Bloomberg also wants what he calls major “reforms” in the
civil service system giving him more power in hiring, and laying off workers. While NYC’s budget currently has a $1.7 billion surplus, Cuomo is projecting a $10 billion deficit next year for because of lower revenue forecasts caused by the recession and decreased federal aid. Many of the cuts Cuomo is considering will unbalance the NYC budget. Yet, neither “leader” is willing to consider taxing the rich to generate more money or cutting outside contracts to save money. They prefer to wage war on public workers, public services and the poor.
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