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March 04,
2010
Morning conference is
held to
protest Governor's budget proposal
Schenectady
faces $11.5 million deficit
 Parents,
teachers, students and top administrators gathered at Mont
Pleasant Middle School Thursday morning to protest against
Governor Paterson’s proposed education budget cuts totaling $1.4
billion, which school officials say will be devastating to
education. Under the current proposal, Schenectady
is
facing a huge deficit that officials say will
result in the elimination of people and programs.
 “We,
teachers, paraprofessionals, administration, parents and school
board members all agree that we must reject the executive
budgets proposed cut,” said Juliet Benaquisto, President of the
Schenectady Federation of Teachers at the morning press
conference. Schenectady was one of more than two dozen
districts around the state that held an event to reject the
budget, protest again the broken “Campaign for Fiscal Equity”
promise, and show support for public education.
 With
a proposed $5.5 million reduction in aid and $6 million of
projected cost increases, Schenectady is looking at an $11.5
million deficit in 2010-2011. “These cuts are on top of the
broken promise of reversing the effects of our state chronically
underfunding schools as determined through the Campaign for
Fiscal Equity in New York State’s highest court,” said
Benaquisto.
Benaquisto and
Schenectady Superintendent Eric Ely remarked about the gains
made by students resulting from additional resources made
available through the Contract for Excellence. This includes
smaller class sizes, early childhood education programs,
additional remedial teachers, instructional coaches, extended
day programs and middle school restructuring.
 “Our
schools have been making steady progress as indicated by the
increasing levels of students achieving success on state
mandated testing,” said Benaquisto who cited Van Corlaer
Elementary School as an example. 92% of students at Van Corlaer
are meeting the state mandated performance levels, an increase
of more than 20% from the previous year. “Similar gains are
made across the elementary programs,” added Benaquisto. “We are
going in the right direction, but are not where we want to be,”
said Benaquisto who attributed the improvements across
elementary and middle school to additional resources and state
support for education. She reiterated that the continued
support from the state is necessary.
“Achievement gaps
have narrowed by 75% over the last four years,” said Ely. “Our
students are achieving at high rates across all demographic
categories. What we are doing is working.”
“Politicians need
to put partisanship aside and start thinking about children,”
said Ely.
 Walt
Mahoski, an art teacher in the district who is also the parent
of two Schenectady graduates and a current sophomore at
Schenectady High School, raved about the education his children
received in Schenectady. He said his oldest daughters who
graduated from Schenectady are currently pursuing Ph.D.s and his
youngest is doing extremely well at Schenectady High. Mahoski
said that he and his wife looked throughout the state at schools
that offered strong fine arts programs and none of them could
match the program offered in Schenectady. “The fine arts
program in this district is second to none,” said Mahoski. “I
don’t want to see that go away.”
He pleaded with
those in attendance to lean on legislators to support education
and the programs offered to Schenectady students.
Benaquisto shared
a statement from Maxine Brisport, president of the school board,
who expressed her support and agreed that the $1.4 billion in
cuts would be devastating to schools. She was unable to attend
the morning event.
 Myron
Hermance, a retired art teacher who resides in the city
expressed his concerns. “I want to be sure the children get the
same education that my seven children received,” he said.
Hermance said he is concerned that students are not getting
money that they are entitled to receive. “Senator Farley has
been a very active supporter of public schools and education,”
said Hermance. “I don’t hear anything about anyone going to
Farley and asking what he will do to support you.” Hermance
said people need to step forward and promote ideas.
“I’m concerned
because it’s hard to find answers,” said Benaquisto. “We are
talking about cuts and what we will face in schools.”
Moving forward,
the budget looks grim. “We don’t have a handle on what the
budget will be,” said Ely “Right now we only have the
governor’s proposal. We will have to go with the worst case
scenario.”
For Schenectady
Schools, that means making $11.5 million in cuts. Yes, that
does mean people will lose jobs and children will lose some of
the programs and resources that have led to increased academic
achievement.
“No more broken
promises,” said Benaquisto to conclude, as the students in
unison, snapped their pencils in two.
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