Fort Greene-Clinton Hill School Community Rallies Against Cuomo Education Plan

At first glance, it looked like a real-life representation of those “We Are The World”-like cartoon pictures: colorfully-dressed children holding hands and forming a circle around the globe, showing unity while protecting the Earth.

In reality, that visual turns out to be pretty accurate.

The human chain formed by hundreds of students, parents and teachers holding hands in a long, oval chain outside P.S. 20/Urban Assembly School of Arts and Letters at 225 Adelphi Street on Thursday, March 12, also symbolized a united front — against Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed education reforms, which teachers and residents across the state are slamming for what they say is an overemphasis on standardized tests and far too little no-strings-attached funding for public schools.

“We stand hand in hand as schools because we are determined to be the change we want to see,” said Vascilla Caldeira, PTA President at PS 20. “Parents and teachers demand fiscal equity for the Common Core to be implemented successfully [and] we’re standing for the kinds of authentic evaluations that will uplift the teachers who commit their skills and time to make our children life-ready. Testing makes our kids into clones instead of the creative people they are meant to be.”

PS 20 and Arts & Letters joined schools across the city today in protesting Cuomo’s proposals. The protests were organized by Class Size Matters, NYS Allies for Public Education, and the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE).

A+L – PS20 HANDS AROUND THE SCHOOL from Frantic Studio/client on Vimeo.

The governor announced in January a major overhaul of the state’s education policy,which need approval from the state legislature to be implemented, including significantly increasing the weight of students’ standardized test scores in teacher evaluations and boosting the number of charter schools in New York.

“Our education system needs dramatic reform, and it has for years,” Cuomo said during January’s address. “This is the year to roll up our sleeves and take on the dramatic challenge that has eluded us for so many years and for so many reasons.”

The governor also announced a $1.1 billion increase in state education funding — far less than what groups like the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the AQE say is needed, and less than half what is owed ($2.5 billion — an average of about $2,667 per student in NYC) as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) lawsuit.

However, even that amount is contingent on his overall education plan being approved by the Assembly and state Senate by the April 1 deadline.

According to Ptahra Jeppe, chief of staff for Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, the Assembly today voted against Cuomo’s proposal and have begun drafting a revised plan of their own.

“Really, Cuomo’s an extortionist,” said Caldeira, PS 20’s PTA President. “It’s been years since we won this case. We’re tired of mayoral control and state control. . . He has held us hostage long enough, [withholding] $2.2 billion. . .Give us our money!”

According to the AQE, the state owes PS 20, for example, $802,741.67 and Arts & Letters $1,301,454.94, as a result of the CFE lawsuit. Millions more are owed to other schools throughout District 13; Brooklyn Technical High School is listed as being owed a whopping $14,540,025.24.

To see how much the AQE says your school is owed, you can go here. In District 13, the remaining school breakdowns in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill are as follows:

• Fort Greene Preparatory: $666,728.96
• PS 11: $1,784,166.71
• PS 54: $589,388.40
• PS 56: $578,720.74
• PS 67: $728,068.03
• MS 113: $1,928,180.16
• PS 270: $389,369.71
• PS 287: $528,049.34

Legislators too have joined the rallying cry against Cuomo’s education budget and teacher evaluation proposal — in our area, Public Advocate (and former local councilmember) Letitia James, Assemblymembers Walter Mosley and Jo Anne Simon, and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery have expressed concerns about Cuomo’s proposal.

“We want to tell the governor that we need more arts, we need more culture, we need smaller classroom sizes, we need to respect our teachers and parents, and that we do not want high stakes testing,” James said, leading the students in a cheer. “This is our school and our voices should count.”

Teachers and parents are particularly against the governor’s plan to base 50 percent of teacher evaluations on students’ standardized test scores — currently only 20 percent of the evaluations are tied to the test results.

“Growing up, tests were always important measures of children’s learning, but they have never been used politically to ruin public schools as in the last two decades,” said Marnie Brady, a parent at Arts & Letters who also noted that Cuomo’s attempt to “jam [his evaluation proposal] into the budget is ‘deforms,’ not ‘reforms.’ He needs to have a democratic debate.”

According to Brady, last year, 85 percent of Arts & Letters parents opted their children out of state testing — an amount that effectively “prevented children from being a score that is used in a way to punish teachers and narrow the curriculum.”

Fourth grader Olivia Sutton agreed that she and her classmates enjoy it when they get to focus on projects and mastering subjects instead of prepping for tests. “I really love my teachers and don’t want to change the way I learn,” she said. “Teachers help me with writing and we are building Iroquois longhouses. I wouldn’t want to lose that.”

The feeling is mutual across Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, as some PS 11 PTA members made sure to also attend PS 20/Arts & Letters’ protest after they finished their own human chain.

“Current policies have made it a competitive atmosphere between schools and that’s wrong and toxic,” said Courtney Vishawadja, a member of PS 11’s Student Leadership Team.

“We had a great turnout, too, and came because this is a district-wide issue. We need each other,” said Cynthia McKnight, PTA President at PS 11. “We want what’s best for our children, not just in one school, but for all children in New York City.”

Two more rallies are also planned: one for this Sunday, March 15 at 1:30pm at City Hall, organized by Public Advocate Letitia James, and another for Saturday, March 28 at 12pm in front of Cuomo’s Manhattan office at 633 Third Avenue.

To find out more about the campaign, follow #ProtectOurSchools, #AllKidsNeed, and #OurSchools on Twitter.

If you’d like to add your voice to the protest, you can sign Assemblymember Jim Brennan’s petition, email Governor Cuomo at gov.cuomo@chamber.state.ny.us, and add your name to the New York Teacher’s Letter.