Budget Cuts Threatening To Cramp P.S. 321's Style
The administration and PTA for P.S. 321 on 7th Avenue and 1st Street—widely considered one of the best and most progressive public elementary schools in Brooklyn, if not the entire city—are up in arms about the $125,000 in budget cuts the school is facing, and they’re calling on parents to march at the Department of…
The administration and PTA for P.S. 321 on 7th Avenue and 1st Street—widely considered one of the best and most progressive public elementary schools in Brooklyn, if not the entire city—are up in arms about the $125,000 in budget cuts the school is facing, and they’re calling on parents to march at the Department of Education offices tomorrow. (Principals all over the city have been slamming the slashed DOE budget.) P.S. 321’s principal sent a note home to parents saying the cuts mean the school won’t be able to buy new classroom furniture and certain school supplies (including new math books), and that there will be less money available for the professional development of teachers. On Monday, the PTA co-presidents sent home another letter (see copy on jump) about how the loss of funding will hurt the school; this communication asks parents to show up for the 4:00 p.m. rally in Lower Manhattan tomorrow to protest the cuts. (The rally is distinct from the meeting about the budget cuts that Councilman de Blasio is holding at Borough Hall tonight.) So how does all this circle back to real estate? This is no doubt overly simplistic, but is it possible for the budget cuts to make some would-be Slope buyers (who often move to the neighborhood because of schools like P.S. 321) reconsider, or think about shelling out for private school instead? Or do the strong voices of parents at P.S. 321 affirm the lure of the school and neighborhood? GMAP
The fact that 321 is routinely touted as an amenity in real estate listing absolutely means there’s a real estate angle to the story. Granted, it may not be the most important angle to the story, but this is still primarly a real estate blog, after all.
No assholes like your self make it an issue!!!! Brownstoner if you was “responsible” maybe you could’ve ran this story.
Multiple muni issuers see notes fail at auction
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1264303620080212
NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) – U.S. muncipal bond issuers were hit with “multiple” failures of auctions of their paper paper on Tuesday, industry sources said, as investors were concerned about the safety of the bond insurers backing the debt.
As a result, states, counties, cities and towns around the nation now are being forced to pay sharply higher short-term interest rates.
This will have a HUGE impact on our Schools, not the bullshit here.
See Brownie why I think you are a fucking asshole and I cant stand you.
The What ( Yes The What)
Someday this war is gonna end….
Perhaps it’s time the City applied a needs test to the families of students attending. The people who can afford to pay something should, so the people who can’t can still offer their kids an education that will be worth something and not bankrupt them.
Well, except success in life does have everything to do with the parents, Flatbushwhacker at 11:37. The obsession with public schools (and toys and pricey strollers and all the meaningless things) will never compensate for working from day one to impart a love of reading. Or a strong work ethic to counter the sense of entitlement in a privileged community of children. A school will never replace the benefits of travel to expand horizons and perspective. A kid (or adult) can go to the best school on the planet and get nothing out of it. Kind of happens all the time, actually. There are a lot of losers in the world who went to great schools. It’s about being a good student, not merely being at a good school.
According to the NYT, Wall Street businesses paid out “only” 33.2 BILLION dollars in bonuses in 2007. Gee, if only the city had a ready tax stream to raise a few extra bucks for schools…
why is everyone so obsessed with 321? I don’t get it. what’s the big deal? do they teach yogic flying?
Hey, 11:15. Care to put your money where your mouth is? There’s a list of failing schools on the Dept of Ed website. Why don’t you could enroll your kids in one of them, and then report back every couple of years about how they’re excelling.
I have a child attending public school (but not 321) and another one who will enter next year.
I was at a PTA meeting this morning where the principal spoke. The extreme anger over these admittedly small and across-the-board cuts (all City agencies were asked to cut 1.5%) comes from several factors:
The Campaingn for Fiscal Equity funding, won through a long and hard legal battle, fought mostly by volunteers, was immediately gutted by Governor Spitzer.
Schools have ever more burden to “demonstrate success,” primarily through dubious test results, as well as an ever-shifting array of “measures” defined and implemented by an ever-shifting array of no-bid consultants at Tweed.
Most school funding is not discretionary, so the cuts disproportionately affect programs that children, their families and staff have lovingly and painstakingly created and run.
The principal also shared with us that these cuts are expected to be doubled next year. So, not only must schools cut now, they must also cut double next year.
This flies in the face of Mayor Bloomberg’s self-definition as the “Education Mayor.” If education is so important, why can’t he make up revenue shortfalls by, say, ticketing honkers and through trucks in my neighborhood, cutting the salaries of the “consultants,” and eliminating the idiotic “grading” system that gave As to undesirable schools and Ds to fabulous schools (like PS 58)? Note to Mr. Bloomberg: education is what happens in a CLASSROOM. All else is window dressing.
This is a bitter, bitter pill indeed.
11:15 hit a grand slam homerun! But this is not in the interest of the realtors who sell the PS 321 neighborhood, Scarsdale and Great Neck.
11:19 – maybe if we were more honest as a society things would improve?