On March 4, parents, students, teachers, and community members will march together in communities throughout the state to demand education justice in New York. Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos are threatening to take billions of education dollars from state public school funding. Governor Cuomo has a history of woefully inadequate education investments, and his current proposal is his worst ever and would take cuts to the next level.
This Saturday in Syracuse, concerned citizens will gather in Hanover Square at noon to fight for education equality and strong public schools. Local parents, students and community leaders will speak out and share our stories. The rally will be followed by a march to the New York State Office Building where we will leave messages urging our local representatives to fight for us in Albany.
In Central New York we call for:
● Full and equitable funding of public schools.
● An end to systemic racism and economic injustice in school funding.
● Release of $4.3 billion in Foundation Aid owed to schools
● Raising the age of criminal responsibility: no more prosecuting children as adults
● Blocking privatization of public schools and Governor Cuomo’s plan for a massive expansion of privately-run charter schools
● Ending over-reliance on high-stakes testing
● Making SUNY and CUNY free for all
● Defense of educational rights of students with disabilities
● Increased access to pre-Kindergarten and early care and learning
● Ensuring that all public schools are Sanctuaries, and will not aid federal officials in the detainment or deportation of students
● Protection of transgender students despite Trump’s rule rollback
The Syracuse People’s March for Education Justice is part of a series of community-lead marches taking place across the state in support of public education in New York. Sister marches will be held in Buffalo, Kingston, Long Island, New York City, Rochester and Schenectady. Marches were initiated by the Alliance for Quality Education. Please visit http://www.aqeny.org/march/ to learn more about its platform and initiatives.