New York City - 1,000 NYC students walk out to save free rides |
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News Source: AP
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Adriana Cortez, 15, and Jenersy Gomez Garcia, 15, above of Hillcrest High School join other high school students as they walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest budget cuts in the student MetroCard program Friday, June 11, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)New York City - About 1,000 New York City high school students chanted “This is what democracy looks like!” and waved homemade signs and banners Friday as they marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest a plan to eliminate their free transit passes.
The students walked out of classrooms all over the city at noon and converged at City Hall Park for a rally with elected officials and transit union members.
Then they marched across the bridge for a second rally at Metropolitan Transportation Authority offices in Brooklyn.
Fernando Matos, 17, a student at Samuel Gompers High School in the Bronx, said that without a free transit pass he would have to transfer to a different school.
“I do not want to go to a local high school,” Matos said. “It doesn’t have the classes I need.”
The protest comes a day after Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a stepped-up effort to fight truancy.
Bloomberg said Friday that the students should have stayed in class.
“If I were them, I’d just think long and hard someday,” he said. “If I didn’t pass a test, I’d always go back and wonder, ‘Was it that afternoon when I was trying to be cute and be out there and picketing was better than being in class?’”
More than 500,000 city students receive free or reduced-fare MetroCards to get to and from school.
The transportation agency has proposed ending the free rides as part of its effort to close an $800 million budget gap.
Without the free passes, families would be forced to buy monthly MetroCards at a cost of about $1,000 a year per child.
“That’s money you’re taking away from buying them books,” said Debbie Officer, a mother of two from Brooklyn who joined the protest.
City Council member Letitia James of Brooklyn told the rally, “Mr. Bloomberg, you just don’t seem to get it. This is a lesson about civics, Mr. Bloomberg. This is learning.”
Sharon Litaker, a special education teacher at Banana Kelly High School in the Bronx, attended the rally to support her students.
“I just walked out,” she said. “A lot of families lost their jobs. They don’t have the extra income to pay for their children’s MetroCards.”
The students took up half the length of the bridge as they marched to Brooklyn shouting “The students, united, will never be defeated!”
A spokesman for the Department of Education said that any disciplinary action the students might face for cutting class would be up to their principals.
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Read Comments (11) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 11, 2010 at 04:02 PM Simcha Says:Report as Inappropriate
This is a Great Start!
These Kids should do this Every day!
Problem Solved!!!!
2
Jun 11, 2010 at 04:40 PM joey Says:Report as Inappropriate
What is this, greece? enough government handouts! We need to save this goldneh medinah from its large and ever increasing burden of debt. Cut the subsidies. Section-8, HUD, FHA, Food stamps. I don't want my hard earned money given to someone else!
3
Jun 11, 2010 at 04:45 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Now maybe the adults should do it for section 8 and Medicaid!! Maybe we will get some action!!
4
Jun 11, 2010 at 04:46 PM 5T educator Says:Report as Inappropriate
shame on you #1. this is a serious issue. if the students cannot abuse the subway sytem they will continue to go on walks. we do not have such problem in lawrence.
5
Jun 11, 2010 at 05:41 PM HaNavon Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ This is a Great Start!
These Kids should do this Every day!
Problem Solved!!!! ”
Mamash?!
I can't believe that any true Ben Torah would even think such a thing!
We WANT the world to be a better place, and things always get better with education. That is what we Jews have stood by literally for thousands of years, not only for ourselves, but for the whole world!
We are supposed to be the enlightened, the educated and to be a light to the nations.
Hashem understands that you can't go to some primitive nation that has Tarzan as it's elder and explain to them the philosophical implications of a single, non-corporeal Deity! So we, the 'Am Chacham V'Navon' went out to the world to teach them, and a well rounded education is needed for anyone to be able to understand Hashem properly.
The only tax that you should never get upset to pay is the public school tax! Many of these kids would be on the street with weapons if they wouldn't be in school.
6
Jun 11, 2010 at 05:44 PM Reason Says:Report as Inappropriate
I am all for the elimination of these metro-cards. It does after all come out of my pocket instead of their own parents.
7
Jun 11, 2010 at 06:52 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
I am a fiscal conservative, but elliminating free metro cards to students will cause these kids to stop going to school becauseany of the parents just can't plain afford it. ANY NY City parent who can get their kids out of the public school system will (which is why new charter schools have a lottery system for entry - there are just too many applicants for limited spots). Would you rather see these teenagers out on the street, or inside a school?
8
Jun 12, 2010 at 09:28 PM iceberg Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ I am a fiscal conservative, but elliminating free metro cards to students will cause these kids to stop going to school becauseany of the parents just can't plain afford it. ANY NY City parent who can get their kids out of the public school system will (which is why new charter schools have a lottery system for entry - there are just too many applicants for limited spots). Would you rather see these teenagers out on the street, or inside a school? ”
Their parents can't afford it? Take a look at what that woman is holding in her right hand- a cell phone.
Maybe her parents should find another place to live that is less pricey than NYC, so that they can afford the basics such as paying for their children's transportation. There is no god-given right for them to demand from others to subsidize their lifestyle to live in a place that they can't afford to otherwise.
9
Jun 12, 2010 at 09:47 PM Aron Says:Report as Inappropriate
In reality, the Metro Cards for school kids doesn't cost the government anything other than the cost of manufacturing the cards itself. The buses and trains are running anyway.
The MTA created this artificial crisis for political gain at the expense of those who need it the most but can least afford it.
10
Jun 13, 2010 at 02:48 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Other forms of gov't funding should be subsidized before cutting out students mta fares. Education is important and helps to keep crime off the streets.
11
Jun 13, 2010 at 07:33 AM brooklyn mom Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ What is this, greece? enough government handouts! We need to save this goldneh medinah from its large and ever increasing burden of debt. Cut the subsidies. Section-8, HUD, FHA, Food stamps. I don't want my hard earned money given to someone else! ”
what about MY hard earned money? My son needs the buses for transportation to and from his yeshiva high school. My husband worked for the city until they laid people off. Right now the only income in this house is unemployment and my check. You are selfish to think of only yourself--what about those of us who lost jobs and are having a very hard time making ends meet. We have no health insurance at this time because we make $300 a month too much to get any and can't afford to buy any. I fervently pray that you will never be in the same boat--remember it CAN happen to you--it's happened to many people who thought they had all the money they needed and are now left in the same boat that we are.