In the midst of the legislative process over how the New York City budget will be allocated for the next fiscal year and with the announcement of cuts in several areas, a group of students from the Big Apple launched a campaign to demand that the Municipal Administration to invest more in counseling and mental health programs in the schools and the investment is withdrawn from police and surveillance on campuses.
Through the Dignity in Schools campaign, students and parents from educational units in the five counties, mostly Hispanic and black, criticized the budget proposed by the Adams administration and demanded that the mayor focus on the needs of students.
The main concern expressed by New York students is that, according to them, the proposed budget puts their safety at risk and does not address their educational challenges. mental health.
“School students need greater investment of resources in support programs, hiring more counselors and social workers and psychologists and not spending so much money so that the police have a presence in our buildings,” he says. Daniel Gutierrez, a public school student in Bronx County. “In many schools in the city what should be invested is in more sports, more art, more science and more support for students who have the truma present in our lives so that we can have guaranteed futures that will not only help us have better lives but it is also something that will benefit society.”
One of the points that criticizes the Dignity in schools campaign is that the City wants to prioritize funding bulletproof vests for school police and expensive high-tech surveillance systems.
Within the call for a budget review and changes to be made, protesters raise the need to “end all recruiting, hiring and training of school police officers by the NYPD, as well as such as stopping programming involved by the NYPD during or after school. Also stop funding new or existing student scanning and surveillance equipment“.
“Public schools must support all young people not only to achieve academically but also to learn to be leaders and care for themselves and others,” he said. Andrea Ortiz membership and campaign director “Dignity in New York Schools”.
Another vital component of the outcry from Big Apple school students expressed in the campaign is to further encourage so-called restorative justice, which seeks to empower students to resolve conflicts on their own without situations escalating to levels of violence without the need for uniformed intervention.
And when referring to concrete investment demands, the student coalition noted that $75 million must be allocated to invest in 500 high schools in order to hire restorative justice coordinators in schools.
They also ask that the City allocate another $75 million to schools to hire 500 people who come directly from the students’ neighborhoods, as parents who can engage with young people in a friendlier way, to foster better environments in the schools. campuses.
They ask for greater investment in school counselors and fewer police officers. Photo: Edwin Martinez
Regarding ongoing restorative justice training for school staff, including restorative justice clubs or advisors and paid opportunities in school and work-based learning internships for youth to lead restorative justice practices, they request that the Municipal Administration disburse $10 million.
Investments of $77 million for counselors, social workers and mental health professionals, $21 million to safeguard and fund the foundation for restorative justice in schools and $5 million in landmark funding for a program that helps students with health needs mental, are other resources that students advocate for in the next budget that will begin to be implemented in July.
“Simply by not hiring more school police, New York City could save up to $106.4 million in one fiscal year. “It is a moral imperative for New York City to prioritize the protection of school personnel who, according to data, will have a positive impact on youth development and school culture,” the campaign stated.
Regarding the demands of the students, Jenna Lyle, spokesperson for the Mayor of New York, He assured that education and security are at the core of everything the Adams Administration does and stressed that restorative justice is a priority.
“We continue to prioritize our restorative justice work, as well as programs like Project Pivot, which puts additional funds in the hands of our schools to directly engage independently selected community organizations, comprised of people from the same communities they serve and in accordance with the needs of the participating schools.”
2024-02-27 00:20:00
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