Corona Meet Urges Restoration Of Funds
With more than 47,000 children at risk of losing child care and after-school programs, hundreds of parents, teachers and advocates joined City Council Member Julissa Ferreras at a town hall meeting in Corona last Tuesday night, June 5, to take a stand against proposed cuts to such programs in their district and across the city.
Ferreras, the Campaign for Children and Make the Road New York called the town hall meeting to urge Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council to fully fund child care and after-school programs in the final city budget.
The deadline to finalize the budget is June 30, and if more than $170 million in proposed cuts is not restored, Ferreras warned, more than 15,368 child care slots and 36,333 after-school slots will be eliminated.
Regarding Ferreras’ 21st Council District, the cuts will result in the closure of two Out-of-School Time (OST) programs at P.S. 92 in Corona and P.S. 89 in Elmhurst. Additionally, four childcare contractors lost their contracts with the new Early Learn awards and 215 child care slots will be eliminated by September.
“It is shameful that this is now the fifth straight year that Mayor Bloomberg has cut after-school and child care programs,” Ferreras said. “The mayor must restore these devastating cuts, which allow hard-working parents to keep their jobs and provide children with the care and educational opportunities they need to succeed.”
A recent Campaign for Children survey of over 4,000 parents found that the proposed cuts to child care and after-school would be devastating to New York’s families and the economy. Half of parents using child care and 36 percent of parents using after-school programs said they would quit their jobs if their child(ren) lost care; another 16 percent said they would leave their child(ren) home alone.
“I have no clue what I will do if I lose after-school for my child,” said Christnelly Camilo, a parent of a child at P.S. 19 in Elmhurst. “Everyone in my close family works and I can’t afford to take my child to a private day-care, since what I make now barely covers our cost of living in New York City. I will have no place to take her that I know is safe and educational while I’m at work. Quitting my job isn’t an option since it’s our only source of income, but I may have no other choice if we lose afterschool.”
“Without the arts and literacy program, parents lose a program that is committed to serving families in need. We are a free program that provides unique and engaging activities not regularly available in an elementary school setting,” added Stephen Schaffenberger, site supervisor for the Arts and Literacy After-School Program. “We are a reliable resource for parents that are working during normal school hours.”
