Budget cuts to be protested by parents and teachers

Courtesy: Creative Commons

By Angelina Salcedo 2/17/2016
Boston Public School teachers, parents and students will hold a walk-in and rally this Wednesday to protest proposed budget cuts.

Wednesday 17th’s events will start at 10 a.m., with a rally at City Hall.

A petition that currently has more than 3,500 signatures will be delivered to Mayor Marty Walsh, demanding that the district restore funding after a decline in state and federal aid.

Public schools in Boston are faced with a multi-million-dollar budget deficit due to the lack of funding. The shortfall was announced at $50 million. The district will only receive $1.27 billion, but this is without the final budget being determined.

Laura Oggeri, spokesperson for Mayor Walsh, says although the state education aid is stagnant, it has been increased since the Mayor took office by almost $90 million. This includes an increase of $13.5 million for the upcoming school year.

“The increased appropriation in his first two years was more than the increase of all other city departmental appropriations combined,” she said in a statement. “The city looks forward to working with BPS to find the right balance of continued support for existing programming and services with investments in new initiatives as they move through the budget process,” says Oggeri.

Following the rally, demonstrators will walk to the State House where they’ll hold at the rally at 11:30 a.m., where they also plan on delivering a petition to Governor Charlie Baker.

This walk-in is one over 30 will take place nationwide and is in support of quality public education.

The school committee will vote on the new budget on March 23rd.