Government cuts New York after-school programs

More than 200 New York City after-school programs are about to lose government funding. They will be forced to close

or drastically reduce services because of the removal of $30 million from their budgets. These programs serve 20,000 children in New York City alone.

School administrators and after-school program advocates were led to believe that the programs would be eligible for funding renewal in 2007-08. But in mid-February, far too late to look for alternative sources, state officials announced that the funds would not be renewed.

These programs provide an important service for working parents. They are also essential to working-class children who receive access to academic and arts training unavailable during the regular school day.

The money for these programs exists in state and federal government coffers. The war on Iraq costs $300 million each day—this is enough to fund ten times the number of programs being cut in the largest U.S. city.

It is the political will of the greedy capitalist politicians that is undermining the children’s programs.