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Longtime advocate for south Queens school district retires

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THE COURIER/Photo by Salvatore Licata

Margaret Finnerty has lent a helping hand to families in southern Queens for over 20 years, but her time at the Department of Education (DOE) has come to an end as she announced her retirement earlier this month.

“This is a very emotional time for me,” Finnerty said. “There were a lot of challenges through the years, but I was always driven to fight for a child to have a better education.”

Finnerty started her work in the DOE as a volunteer parent association president in 1977. For the past 24 and a half years, she has served as District 27’s family advocate, helping to network the DOE to local parents and deal with their concerns about the schools.

Over the years, she has helped to place children in schools and advocate for certain educational standards for students throughout the district’s 50 schools.

She was presented certificates of honor from Borough President Melinda Katz, Councilman Eric Ulrich, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, state Sen. Joe Addabbo and city Comptroller Scott Stringer.

They recognized her for the hard work and dedication she exhibited for the parents and children of south Queens.

“Margaret has been selfless and devoted to many families throughout our area,” said Goldfeder. “The DOE will miss her.”

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