The Remarks Of Speaker Sheldon Silver

New Explorations Into Science,
Technology And Math (Nest+M) School Rally

City Hall, Manhattan
Friday, April 7, 2006

The New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math School, better known as "NEST+m" is one of this city's education success stories.

It is a success story because parents are involved in the school. It is a success story because parents, teachers and the students work hard every, single day to make this a success story.

Mayor, Chancellor, why mess with a good thing?

In this age when science is essential, when it is the key component of our children's education and of our future, why are we proposing - under your plan - to replace science labs with classrooms for another, different school?

Science labs are not a luxury, they are the way of the future! They are the way these children will be part of the global economy of the 21st Century. They need foundations and fundamentals of science to succeed, and for New York businesses to succeed in the 21st Century.

Everybody knows that smaller class sizes the key to improving our children's education. We have all of this here at this successful school. You know that better than anybody, Mister Chancellor and Mister Mayor.

Day in and day out in Albany, I have been fighting to put in place an $11.2 billion funding stream for classrooms in the City of New York, so that we can create smaller classes, pre-K classes, and more physical space.

Will anybody here be able to tell me why we're looking to give away the classrooms we have now? Reducing available space does not make sense!

Mayor, remember something else. You came to the state legislature several years ago and said, "Trust me. I want control of the school system. I will make it better."

Let me tell you something now. NEST+m has made the entire school system better.

Now, you're saying, "I need to invest our limited education resources to create competition for our public schools."

It doesn't make sense! It doesn't work!

Let me tell you what we really need to help our children to become well-educated students.

We need science labs!

We need you, Mister Mayor, to get on the phone, call the governor, and tell him to stop appealing CFE. Tell the governor it's time to "Pay Up!"

Let's see you tell that to the Governor, Mister Mayor.

One more thing, you can't embed a charter academy into NEST+m, and you certainly can't do it without talking to the parents first!

These are our schools! These are our children, and they deserve the best from us, and that's what we're fighting to give them!

The success at this school should be advanced at all of our public schools.

It's time to drop the political doctrine and start getting real!

Let's get on the same page, for the sake of these children, for the sake of our City, and for the future of our economy.

Mayor, you are looking at our New York workforce in the year 2025. Don't kid yourself! Give them the foundation to compete in global economy!