Parents say: "Make millionaires pay"
"The fact that everybody wants it, that doesn't mean all that much."
So said Governor Andrew Cuomo on Oct. 17, explaining why he had decided not to extend the "millionaire's tax."
Some public school parents disagree, and they're taking their demand to Cuomo's doorstep on Election Day. They want the tax, which would generate $2.8 billion in the next fiscal year, to help offset a projected $1.4 billion budget cut aimed at city schools next year.
Although they aren't millionaires themselves, many of their children will doing their part by bringing cookies and cupcakes for a bakesale to help close the yawning budget deficit.
They will also have a ballot box available for passersby to vote on whether the millionaire's tax should stay in place.
Parents and children will be speaking at the event to explain what their schools have already lost from budget cuts that have hit schools every year since 2007 and what more they fear they will lose.
Adam Grumbach, whose daughter is in 2nd grade in a Brooklyn public school, is one of the parents spearheading the protest. He says when he first toured his daughter's school there were 20 to 22 children in each kindergarten class. When she enrolled in 2009 there were 25 kids in her class. In 1st grade there were 28 children, and this year there are 30. "We have watched her hardworking and dedicated teachers struggle, and it feels like we are watching them burn out before our eyes," he said. "To learn that during these times Governor Cuomo, who has not hesitated to demand concessions of all public employees, is also seeking a tax cut for millionaires is infuriating. And so we decided that we would organize an event in front of his New York office."
The organizers have made the protest kid-friendly by limiting it to a 3:30 p.m. picket and rally outside Cuomo's office at 633 3rd Ave, between 40th and 41st Sts. They will be Occupying for Education in spirit but will not actually try to get into the building.
Before Occupy Wall Street, this might have just been a symbolic protest, but as the movement has gained momentum, more and more New Yorkers have made it clear that they favor the tax to keep additional budget cuts at bay.
And the protesters have gained some powerful allies, including the Assembly Speaker.
Schools are out on Election Day, Nov. 8. Who's going to the protest?
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