How will the planned MTA cuts to student MetroCards affect education? That's the topic of a City Council hearing on Friday, March 13 beginning at 1 p.m. in Council Chambers.

Insideschools student blogger Toni and the NYC Student Union have beenactively opposing the cuts; MTA hearings over the past few weeks have attracted crowds of protesters. Prospects for resolving this are slim before the state passes its budget but, to have your voice heard, attend Friday's meeting at City Hall. Public comment will likely begin after 3 p.m.

See the City Council's hearing notice below for background information and details:

"New York City public schools serve approximately 1.1 million students, and while some students walk to school, nearly 600,000 are dependent upon subsidized transportation of some kind, with the vast majority of students relying on mass transit in order to travel to and from school.Non-public school students are also eligible for subsidized transportation.Currently, students can obtain subsidized transportation to school in a variety of ways: using a half-fare student Metrocard, using a no-fare student Metrocard, or by means of bus companies contracted through the DOE.<!--more-->

"Since the 1940's, student travel in New York City has been subsidized.Beginning in the mid-1990's, the City and the State each agreed to contribute $45 million every year to the student Metrocard program.According to the MTA, the overall cost of the program is $214 million annually, which left the MTA to fund the remaining $124 million after the State and City had paid their share.In 2009, due to the economic situation, the State decided to reduce their annual contribution to the program to $6 million, while the City's share remains at $45 million.The State's cut would necessitate the MTA funding a greater share of the program's costs than before.Due to the large budget deficits the MTA faces, the organization decided last December to phase out and eliminate the student Metrocard program by 2011.

"We invite members of Community Education Councils, parents, students, educators, advocates, and all other stakeholders and interested members of the public to testify at this hearing. Testimony will be limited to 2-3 minutes per person to allow as many as possible to testify. Although the hearing starts at 1:00 pm, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as well as other witnesses (such as elected officials) have been invited to testify and answer questions from Council Members at the outset, so we do not expect to hear from others until 3:00 pm or later. Please make sure you fill out a witness slip on the desk of the Sergeant-at-arms if you wish to testify. If you plan to bring written testimony, please bring at least 20 copies."

And, if you're going to the hearing, please comment below on what people have to say.