{"id":2224,"date":"2019-12-06T18:13:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T18:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/?p=2224"},"modified":"2020-02-11T20:05:28","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T20:05:28","slug":"cuny-students-demand-increased-funding-for-education-opportunity-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/2019\/12\/cuny-students-demand-increased-funding-for-education-opportunity-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"CUNY Students Demand Increased Funding for Education Opportunity Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"cunyalliance\"
CUNY Rising gathered in front of Gov. Cuomo\u2019s Manhattan office.<\/figcaption> Photo by Afia Eama<\/span><\/figure>\n

Students and faculty of CUNY rallied for expanded funding in programs for low-income students in front of Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s Manhattan office yesterday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Governor\u2019s executive budget will be released in mid-January, prompting CUNY Rising, an alliance made up of over 30 student, union and community organizations, to gather on the cold Thursday afternoon. Among the crowd were students from Hunter\u2019s NYPIRG, an on-campus public education organization.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CUNY\u2019s University Student Senate and NYPIRG co-organized the rally a month before the budget\u2019s release to call for expanded funding instead of the routine million dollar budget cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Starting around 2014, the Governor has substantially cut funding for opportunity programs in his executive budget. Public outcry has pushed the legislature to reinstate funding during the budget negotiations that follow,\u201d said Megan Ahearn, the program director of NYPIRG. <\/span>After the new year\u2019s enacted budget is released, the negotiations will start to determine if those cuts should be made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Governor’s <\/span>current executive budget<\/span><\/a> for the year cut educational opportunity program funding by $31 million from 2020 to 2021. This included $5.36 million from SUNY Educational Opportunity Program, $5 million from Education Opportunity Centers, $4.68 million from SEEK and $2.5 million from ASAP. These programs provide academic and financial support for students from low-income backgrounds. However, this year\u2019s funding was restored during budget negotiations and remained consistent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the rally, more than 30 students and faculty from City College, College of Staten Island, City Tech, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Medgar Evers and more held signs saying \u201cFund CUNY ASAP\u201d and \u201cFund Educational Opportunity Programs Now!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over 25,000 low-income students enrolled in two-year community colleges are a part of ASAP. The program provides students with support including free tuition, textbooks, public transportation, academic advising, tutoring and enhanced career services. The program <\/span>noted as effective<\/span><\/a> by President Obama doubled graduation rates according to a study by the <\/span>MRDC<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the crowd chanted, \u201cWhat do we want? Opportunity. When do we want it? ASAP,\u201d an anti-vaccine group stationed a few feet away in front of the Governor\u2019s office chanted, \u201cOur kids, our choice.\u201d Employees in the building observed the two advocacy groups through the glass walls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students affected by these programs spoke at the rally. Colin Smith, a student at Medgar Evers College, says he couldn\u2019t afford college as a young adult and decided to return a few years ago. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I could do it. But as time went on, with ASAP services [covering] half my tuition, I made it on the dean’s list,\u201d said Smith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the crowd was Ayesha Schmitt, a project coordinator from Hunter\u2019s NYPIRG who is in support for expanded funding for programs which help thousands, including her mother. \u201cMy mother hadn\u2019t been to school in a really long time and when she came back, she had the support of advisors and extra assistance from ASAP to complete her degree,\u201d said Schmitt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CUNY Rising Alliance has set up a <\/span>petition<\/span><\/a> urging people to tell Cuomo to invest in public education. Once the new year\u2019s budget is released NYPIRG will release their annual budget testimony to spread awareness of the news and work against any possible cuts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter student Anna Compton says these programs are vital for CUNY students. \u201cStudents shouldn\u2019t have to choose between purchasing MTA cards or food or books,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students and faculty of CUNY rallied for expanded funding in programs for low-income students in front of Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s Manhattan office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[237,235,238,239,236],"class_list":["post-2224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-asap","tag-cuomo","tag-education","tag-huntercollege","tag-seek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2224"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2234,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224\/revisions\/2234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}