May 28, 2008 6:58 am US/Eastern
School Budget Cuts Controversy Boils Over
Hundreds Of Parents Ejected From City Council Hearing
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Hundreds of parents were kicked out of a NYC Council hearing on school budget cuts on May 27.
CBS
Controversial classroom cuts caused chaos at a City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is on the hot seat after facing outraged parents of students at schools that stand to lose the most.
The chants from hundreds of irate parents told the story.
"Chancellor Klein, don't cut a dime! Chancellor Klein, don't cut a dime!"
The Council's Sergeant at Arms was ordered to clear the chamber.
It was an unusual occurrence at City Hall as hundreds of angry parents were ejected from a hearing on education budget cuts.
The parents were furious over Klein's plan to slash the budgets of the city's top schools as well as redirect money earmarked by Albany for low performing schools.
"I work hard. I'm a single mother and I work hard to get my child … He's in second grade and doing math on a fourth grade level and Bloomberg promised no child left behind and now he's not giving us what we deserve and what we got from Albany," Bronx parent Dionne Morales said.
This all came as Klein was excoriated by councilman after councilman for three solid hours. Education Chairman Robert Jackson charged the budget cuts are divisive.
"Chancellor, when I heard this I was shocked and I said, 'Oh no, he's not doing this,'" Jackson said. "He's trying to have a classic divide and conquer some people would say rich vs. poor, wealthy vs. those that are poor and some people would say those that are white, majority vs. minority."
Klein tried to defend the controversial cuts and denied charges of racism and favoritism.
"I think those charges are baseless," Klein said. "Our job is to protect all of the children. My job as chancellor is to make sure all children are treated equally."
The fight over education dollars has to be solved one way or the other by June 30.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn suggested the chancellor cut his own staff and department bureaucracy to make up for budget deficits. She said she can find the money if he can't.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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