Clark Sponsors Education Forum

Assemblywoman Barbara Clark has organized a community education forum for Saturday, January 14.
“In a community like ours — with middle-class families living in homes valued well over $300,000 — it is an aberration to have our children achieving so low academically,” said Clark. “It is important to keep in mind that when communities don’t set their own priorities, others tend to set priorities for them.
Clark is co-sponsoring the forum, to be held at 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the St. Albans Family Life Center, located at 172-17 Linden Boulevard in St. Albans, with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), St. Albans Congregational Church, U.C.C., New York Urban League, and the NYC Metropolitan Council of NAACP Branches.
In March 2005, the New York State Supreme Court ordered the State to provide $5.6 billion in additional funding to New York City public schools in a CFE case. CFE has launched a year-long public engagement project called Making Money Matter, to ensure that additional funding is spent effectively and results in measurable improvements.
As a part of the project, CFE is holding meetings around the city to learn first-hand about the educational needs of different communities. CFE will then forward its findings to the New York State Education Department to help shape the Department’s statewide planning for upcoming school years.
“I am co-sponsoring a forum so that parents, students, business leaders, community based organizations, church leaders, educators, and other community members can discuss how education monies should be spent in New York City and Southeast Queens in particular,” said Clark. “We will also discuss what specific outcomes we expect to see as a result of that spending. Our kids still have a lot of progress to make.”
For more information, please call Clarks district office at 718-479-2333.