Green Party to Call for Increased School Funding, Desegregation

Oppose High-Stakes Testing, Privatization, Charter Schools

Howie Hawkins and Jia Lee, the Green Party candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor, will hold a news conference on education issues in Rochester on Thursday July 26 in front of School 41, 279 West Ridge Road at 10:30 AM.

The Green Party candidates will call for an overhaul of the state’s education priorities, including more funding for low-income and rural communities and programs for disadvantaged students; a move away from high stakes testing and privatization, including charter schools; and the election of a Governor who supports rather than attacks teachers, especially following the Janus decision.

Rochester is considered perhaps the worst school district in the state if not the nation.

Lee, a NYC public school teacher and recent candidate for UFT president, will call to end the racial, class, and academic segregation in public schools. The Green Party candidates advocate the scrapping of standardized tests to evaluate, rank, and allocate or deny resources to students, teachers, and schools.

The Greens will call for increased state funding for education to comply with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity decision.

The Green Party has long opposed charter schools as undercutting public education. Charter schools have often been used as cash cows by hedge funds and other investors taking advantage of favorable tax provisions.