Shown above is Assemblyman Colton at the “Keep the Promise” breakfast, which he organized for parents and community leaders.

More Monies for NYC Schools

Assemblyman Colton led the fight to ensure the state kept its promise to provide our children with their fair share of state school monies.

The Assemblyman hosted a breakfast meeting of parents and community leaders to organize support in this important fight. Last year, a lawsuit demanding a fair share of state school monies for NYC was settled with an historic four-year plan. The first year provided our schools with a $600 million dollar increase in monies.

State Budget Keeps the Promise

This year’s budget continues that commitment by providing an additional $534 million increase above last year for NYC schools. This money will go for reducing class size, funding Universal Pre-Kindergarten, improving teacher training, and other such school improvements.

Assemblyman Colton succeeded in rejecting the elimination of building aid for 2008-2009, as well as an 18-month delay in reimbursing current projects.

There is no excuse for city school cuts. Our children deserve all the resources needed to receive a quality education. We must continue to demand that NYC stop cuts to our schools and we will continue fighting against any such cuts.

A Promise is a Promise...No Excuses!

Photo shows Assemblyman Colton at January hearing on the Waste Transfer Station, with community leaders Mark Treyger, Ida Sanoff and Charles Ragusa, together with the community’s environmental attorney, Joel Kupferman. Some 1,000 people attended the hearing against the proposed plan.

Rallying the Community

Assemblyman Colton, who first alerted the community to the plan, has been leading the fight against this Waste Transfer Station. He collected thousands of letters and petitions to protest the plan. He held rallies and town hall meetings to discuss how this plan will cause traffic congestion, contaminate our waters and hurt the quality of life of the residential and recreational area around the site.

Continuing the Legal Fight

Currently, an administrative judge has been appointed to hear the issues. Assemblyman Colton, together with other community leaders, has applied to be a party to the proceedings.

A well-known environmental lawyer, Joel Kupferman, who has been retained to represent the community, has filed an application with the Federal Environmental Protection Administration to assess the site for the hazardous waste created by the Southwest Brooklyn Incinerator, which the city had operated on the site until Colton successfully led a fight to close it in 1991.

Assemblyman Colton has vowed to continue to fight this poorly thought out proposal, which unfortunately was approved by the City Council, but which still must obtain approval for a permit by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Shown in photo is Assemblyman Colton and Mrs. Carolyn Telesmanich, PS 95 Principal; together with a group of Holocaust survivors who presented their experiences at an assembly program at PS 95.

Assemblyman Colton arranged for the program to teach children about the evil of hate symbols such as the swastika. Any schools interested in presenting such programs can contact Stephanie Wong at the Assemblyman’s office.

Shown in photo are Assemblyman Colton discussing health issues with Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization.