Is the New York State Government being unfair?

By Tamzid Hasan

         Recently, a staff member of Wolf Press found an Excel Spreadsheet about the budget of the state government for 2019. We investigated the problem a lot deeper and found the budget of 2020 and 2021.  We also found that the State Government is not giving money to every single school, park, etc. with many District 15 schools, including MS447, being one of them. This may not seem fair to many people but there may be a reason. The sum of the total money spent by the state government in 2019 is six hundred fourteen million nine hundred ten thousand dollars and when you sum them all up from 2019-2021, the amount spent is one billion two hundred fifty-five million three hundred twenty-one thousand dollars. Especially with Covid going on, the reason for not giving money to everyone may be money shortage. Whatever the reasons, schools are still going to be having problems. “It was so expensive that I took a second job in the spring.” Says Miss Davis, a Social Studies teacher who has been in a similar situation; the economic disaster of 2008. This actively demonstrates that, if NYC does this again, many teachers may have to work harder than ever, and not to mention how much usage of supplies will be restricted for schools.

Even with all that, a school can hardly run as it must pay for books, renovations, and tons of other things. Running on donations is a good way to run but even with all that, paying the teachers will be hard. “Donations are tricky because all teachers are going after the same pool of money… due to the pandemic, donations can be limited because the economy isn’t strong.” Says Mr Geneen, Ms447's PE teacher. Due to all that, many people think that a lot of schools are going to get shut down… or at least that is what they thought. Recently, there has been news that the State Government is getting money directly from the Federal Government. If that really is true, then it is going to help many schools and public services that are essential to our lives. So whatever comes next, the Wolf Press will keep you updated.