AQE’s Reaction to Governor Cuomo’s 2014 State of the State Address
(Long Island, NY) Today, the following statements were released from Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director of the Alliance for Quality Education, & Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education:
“Parents are sick and tired of protesting year after year to stop cuts to pre-k and after-school whenever times get rough—our children deserve a dedicated funding stream that cannot be messed with.
“Governor Cuomo’s promise for universal pre-k is welcome, but it should not become an excuse to block New York City from paying its own way and getting all four-year-olds in pre-k this year.
“Mayor de Blasio has a plan for how New York City can guarantee full-day pre-k for every child, not as a futuristic goal, but right now,” said Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director of the Alliance for Quality Education.
“Governor Cuomo is right to highlight the deep inequality between rich and poor school districts in New York—however under his tenure, the opportunity gap between them has widened, not shrunk.
“Governor Cuomo has marvelous rhetoric when it comes to education— however, the reality has fallen way short of the rhetoric. Nothing in his speech today suggests that he is going to finally address the inequality between rich and poor school districts.
“While the promise of full day pre-k is encouraging, we will have to wait to see what is in his budget. It is certain that Governor Cuomo and legislators should support allowing New York City to tax their own citizens to locally finance pre-k for every four-year-old.
“While a new education technology bond act is a good idea, it will not close the gap in classroom opportunities– the only thing that can begin to reverse inequality is a $1.9 billion increase in school aid,” said Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education.
About AQE
The Alliance for Quality Education is a coalition mobilizing communities across the state to keep New York true to its promise of ensuring a high quality public education to all students regardless of zip code, income or race. Combining its legislative and policy expertise with grassroots organizing, AQE advances proven-to-work strategies that lead to student success and echo a powerful public demand for a high quality education.
