The need for a better capital plan; how you can help!

The lack of space in our schools – a problem that is getting worse every day in many neighborhoods -- is the biggest obstacle we have to providing a quality education for our kids.

Despite the worrisome economic news, we are going full steam ahead on our ABC campaign for a better capital plan for school construction, so that we can finally end school overcrowding and reduce class size.

On November 3, the Mayor is supposed to propose the next five-year capital plan, so we need as many parents, teachers and advocates as possible to get involved in this campaign – now!.

1- Click on this link and send a fax to the Mayor and Chancellor now!

2- Come to a rally at City Hall on Friday Oct. 3 at 9 AM -- with hearings to follow on school overcrowding. Here is a pdf flyer that you can distribute and post in your school; and here is a one-pager with more information on the need for a better capital plan.

3- There are postcards in every school for parents to sign; the UFT has distributed 63,000 to chapter leaders citywide. Please reach out to your PTA or SLT if you don’t know who the chapter leader is.

Our kids need more schools to learn and grow; and as a city, it would be disastrous to ignore this need, even in the current economic situation.

This principle has support from a surprising source --the Mayor himself. See this excerpt from last Sunday’s Meet the Press:

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: No, we're not going to make the mistake--the mistake that was made in the '70s is …we stopped supporting our cultural institutions and building parks and schools and all those kinds of things. We are going to go ahead and continue those things. …we are not going to walk away from our city. That's the prescription for disaster. When you do that, your tax base leaves, and the rest of this country, as well as New York, are going to have exactly the same decisions to make. The taxpayers are going to have to decide do they want to have a future or not? If they don't want to have a future, then they're not going to have to pay as much now, but if they want to leave a better world for their kids, they're going to have to pay the bills up front.

We want to hold the Mayor at his word. Please don’t allow our kids suffer just because Wall Street made a lot of bad loans. If we don’t build enough schools, this will not only damage our children’s future but the economic future of this city as a whole.

More info on our campaign is available on our new website: A better capital plan.