Chanting protect kids, not millionaires and hey-hey, ho-ho, the governors cuts have got to go, over 200 people [including members of Make the Road New York] from around the state marched from the annual convention of the Association for Black and Puerto Rican Legislators to the Executive Mansion to protest Gov. Andrew Cuomos proposed cuts to education.
New York City Councilman Robert Jackson led the demonstration, which also included speeches by Sens. Bill Perkins and Gustavo Rivera. Jackson was the lead plaintiff on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, which ruled state lawmakers were short-changing New York Citys public schools, depriving students of their constitutional right to a sound, basic education. A 2006 ruling by the Court of Appeals led Gov. Eliot Spitzer to promise $7 billion in additional aid over several years. This year, the demonstrators including members of Citizen Action and the Alliance for Quality Education said, Cuomo is taking steps backward.
Your budget for education will be devastating for the children of New York state, Jackson cried at the mansion, through a bullhorn. He called on Cuomo to continue an income tax surcharge on people earning over $200,000 a year. Cuomo has argued that the cuts will not necessitate teacher layoffs.
Cuomo did not come to the door. The demonstrators left him this little memento.
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