BP MARKOWITZ HAILS STATE SCHOOL FUNDING INCREASE

Urges Governor to sign bill, Mayor to build planned Brooklyn schools

“It remains my belief that funding public education is not a question of fiscal currency, it’s about a moral currency and our obligation as public officials, and as adults, to enable and empower our children to achieve their god-given potential, and to fulfill our nation’s promise to realize every American’s hopes and dreams. To those who said the cost to improve our schools is too high, Brooklyn and New York City continue to say with one voice, ‘A quality education and getting our fair share has no price tag.’

Properly funding school construction means Brooklyn and New York City children will no longer be treated second-class, finally. I commend the State Legislature for recognizing that a quality public education for our city’s students creates a path to a better future for all New Yorkers and Americans, and I am confident that the dream of building desperately needed new schools for Brooklyn will at last become a reality.

Increased capacity is critical in Sunset Park, Midwood, Bensonhurst, Flatbush, and in every neighborhood where new schools are planned, and I urge Mayor Bloomberg to return these schools to the five-year capital plan. I also call on Governor Pataki to sign the budget bill to provide our children with $1.8 billion in funds for immediate new-classroom construction, and at least $4.7 billion for future school construction and repairs.”

—Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz