Name: Shawn Stewart
Age: 15
Locale: New York, NY
Occupation: Student @ NYC Private High School; Journalist

What do you know of the proposed city budget cuts?
That a supposed 1 billion is being taken away by Bloomberg and the people are NOT standing for it! Besides that, there's been one big rally, and there have been other meetings to discuss this issue.

Well since you don't attend a public high school, how do you feel this affects you?
I have a bunch of family members in the public school system. Bloomberg must be mad. He is just contributing to the miseducation of today's youth while trying to keep city authorities rich. Even though the economy needs money [as a result of] Sept. 11th... if this is a method...it is ridiculous. My family might just as well be borrowin' books out of the trash can.

What was your initial reaction upon hearing the news?
I thought, 'yea right, that is just way too much money to be taken away from education.' Once I found out it was REAL...I thought, BLOOMBERG is MAD. This is just wrong.

What do you think this says about Bloomberg and his educational priorities for NYC?
He really puts education as one of his lowest priorities and is possibly being selfish right now.

Any solutions?
Well, I can't think of one right now, but in any case I say, 'if you can't put any money into the budget, leave it alone.'

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Name: Katrina S.
Age:16
Locale: Queens, NY
Occupation: Student @ NYC Public School

What do you know of the current budget cuts?
Well there's a large demand for advanced placement courses and courses that go beyond the core subjects of english, math, science, and history. Because of the cuts, there's not enough teachers; therefore the amount of people that can take the courses is very limited. Kids who want the opportunity of more challenging classes are beyond denied of it.

What was your initial reaction?
My school is overcrowded. 4,500 students in a school meant for about 2,000. And let me tell you about the bathrooms! No soap or paper to dry your hands and towards the end of the day there's no toilet paper. My school's like this without budget cuts. Now imagine it with the cuts. People go on and on about inner city kids not performing well in school. I can't blame low performance on school conditions entirely but they do play a major role. If the school environment sucks...how do they expect kids to succeed? When kids are being denied the proper resources, what kind of student performance do they expect?

What do you think this says about Bloomberg's educational priorities?
Well, he said he's putting education first, didn't he? Those kind of budget cuts don't seem to be putting education first. It's not right! But then again....he needs to close a 5 million dollar deficit. I guess some sacrifices need to be made, but he's taking away from a school system that is suffering to begin with.

What's a possible solution to fixing the city's deficit? One that doesn't include taking as large of a chunk out of the educational budget?
Truthfully, I'm not sure...Thank God the city isn't in my hands, 'cuz then we'd be in trouble!

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Name: Christopher Coes
Age: 19
Locale: Washington, D.C./NYC
Occupation: NYC College Student; Vice President of National Youth Rights Association (NYRA)

What do you know of the current budget cuts?
Well I had very minimal knowledge, yet I have done some recent research on the issue. What I do know is that currently, in FY [Fiscal Year] 2003, at least 11 million dollars is being reduced from the Board of Ed, not 1.2 billion. I have heard through many community leaders, teachers, and regular citizens that there are concerns. One concern is that more money should be put into the educational system instead of taken out. I also know of other politicians who've proposed to counter the mayor's proposal.

It's a lose-lose situation. On one hand, he has a failing education system
that is holding itself by the strings...and that is in dire need of funds or new management. On the other hand, he has to face a budget that has many shortfalls. Due to 9/11 and the already occurring economic downturn, he must balance the budget. If not, he must adhere to the Financial Emergency Act which requires the city's budget to be balanced. [If he doesn't do this], the control board will come in for 4 years and control NYC's financial engagements.

What was your initial reaction upon hearing the news?
I understood. I understand that there are crucial choices that the mayor has to decide, especially when he is in a lose-lose situation. So I understood that in the situation that the city was in, he had the education on one side and [the need for a] balanced budget on the other. [These are] hard decisions.

What do you think of Bloomberg's educational priorities for NYC?
I am not sure if we can conclude what his priorities for education are, because he is still [in the process of] gaining control of the city's education system. I accept his current plan, not just his educational priorities, but the whole plan. Obviously, there are things that are still pending.

His current strategy doesn't directly affect you as you're not a student of the NYC Board of Education, so it's probably easy to agree with the proposed budget. How would you feel if you were in one of these schools?
Well knowing the type of person I am, I would embrace it as a challenge... to succeed...and
to improve. I think oftentimes, when we see that a school is failing, we [just continue] to take that negative attitude into the school, which just makes the end results worst.

A Possible Solution?
I really would have to encourage community help. Many of these schools do not receive community help, donations, or assistance.

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