Brooklyn public schools are thousands of dollars richer.
That’s because local City Council members allocated funding for school-specific projects, such as computer initiatives, new athletic fields and auditorium upgrades.
Council members say they provide the money every year to individual schools because funding from the city Department of Education (DOE) only goes so far.
“This is six years running that I’ve given both a capital and expense allocation to every school in my district,” explained Councilmember Lew Fidler (D-Canarsie/Marine Park). “The expense budget is typically for music, art — a program that adds to the school day that the Department of Education is woefully deficient in providing. Capital expenses go to improvements in school facilities that the Department of Education is unable to make.”
The funding Fidler secured for the schools in his district will allow for auditorium upgrades, new libraries and the purchase of new computers, which the councilman said schools desperately need.
“Clearly the Department of Education does not routinely provide schools with the computers they need and the technology they need,” he said. “One of the hidden cuts in this year’s budget is a provision that if you have a computer that needs to be fixed, you have to pay for it out of the school’s budget instead of the Department of Education paying for it.”
Councilmember Mathieu Eugene (D-Kensington) secured $450,000 to bring laptops and upgraded technology to P.S. 249 at 18 Marlborough Road, P.S. 245 at 249 East 17th Street, and the High School for Service and Learning at Erasmus Hall Campus on Flatbush Avenue.
“We are living in a time when technology is very important,” he said. “We have to make sure that our children are better educated. We have to make sure that our students can compete with any other student in the world.”
Councilmember Kendall Stewart (D-Flatbush) secured funding for computers for P.S. 315 at 2310 Glenwood Road and P.S. 198 at 4105 Farragut Road, a surveillance system for P.S. 268 at 133 East 53rd Street, and air conditioning for P.S. 326 at 1800 Utica Avenue and P.S. 119 at 3829 Avenue K.
Funding sponsored by Councilmember Simcha Felder (D-Borough Park) will go to a computer lab for P.S. 231 at 5601 16th Avenue, a technology upgrade for P.S. 164 at 4211 14th Avenue, and a new trash compactor for P.S. 180 at 5601 16th Avenue.
Councilmember Michael Nelson (D-Sheepshead Bay) sponsored funding for a new library and media center for P.S. 195 at 131 Irwin Street and computers for I.S. 98 at 1401 Emmons Avenue and P.S. 255 at 1866 East 17th Street.
For Councilmember Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge), the focus was securing funding for wiring to support central air conditioning systems. Several schools will receive the wiring, including P.S. 127 at 7805 Seventh Avenue and P.S. 229 at 1400 Benson Avenue.
Councilmember Domenic Recchia (D-Coney Island) secured funding for various projects, including an athletic field for P.S. 721 at 64 Avenue X and computers for High School for Sports Management at 2865 West 19th Street. He also sponsored funding to support the in-process construction of a new athletic field for Lincoln High School.
“These are things that are needed in the schools,” Recchia said.
Without money from the City Council, Recchia asserted, “Who’s going to pay for these things?”
For a full list of public schools receiving money from local City Council members, log onto http://www.council.nyc.gov/html/budget/PDFs/adopt08_capresowork.pdf.
