Communities protest $206M school cuts
Parents, teachers and community members joined The Long Island Progressive Coalition to protest budget cuts on the state's public schools. (Sept. 21, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa
Central Islip residents complain that a classroom at the district's Charles A. Mulligan Intermediate School is so crowded with 44 students that the teacher has to shove desks together just to provide walking space.
At nearby Cordello Avenue Elementary School, parents of second-graders report that teachers find it difficult to help youngsters struggling with their lessons because class sizes have risen as high as 34.
"It's really not right for our kids," said Amparo Sadler, a Central Islip community leader who joined school supporters from other districts Wednesday at a news conference aimed at publicizing the impact of state-aid cuts.
Long Island lost a regional total of $206 million in state aid this school year -- the largest dollar loss ever. Reductions were approved with bipartisan support last spring, as lawmakers in Albany scrambled to respond to an economic downturn and balance the state's budget. Locally the impact has been most pronounced in districts with little taxable wealth, the ones most dependent on state assistance.
Wednesday, regional activists from the Long Island Progressive Coalition, teachers union representatives and others gathered outside South Ocean Middle School in Patchogue to talk about the effects of staff layoffs and cuts in student services. The Patchogue-Medford district has lost about 40 teaching positions this school year, Central Islip about 85.
"Students are the most vulnerable and are feeling it in larger classes and the elimination of much-needed programs," said Paul Pecorale, president of the district's teachers union.
Across the Island, public resentment over school cutbacks has brought pressures on district and union leaders alike.
Central Islip's administration and teachers union have blamed each other for this year's lost jobs, with each side saying the other has refused to negotiate a reasonable settlement, while providing few details. Senior teachers there are among the Island's highest paid, with top scale exceeding $150,000.
Fred Philips, president of Central Islip's school board, issued a prepared statement saying that talks with the union over reducing class size are ongoing and "no satisfactory conclusion" has been reached.
Robert Molinaro, the teachers' union president, responded in a phone interview that his group is "always willing to sit down with the district, roll up our sleeves and work out a creative solution." He declined to say why no agreement has been reached.
