Eight bishops of the Episcopal Church in the state of New York stand united against Gov. David Paterson’s proposed budget cuts for education.
 
Gov. Paterson has proposed a cut of $686 million for the remainder of the school year. Of that figure, $223 million would affect schools in New York City. The New York Times has reported that the state is facing a deficit of $3 billion this year, and up to $50 billion in the next three and a half years.
 
In a letter [PDF] dated Oct. 29, the bishops cite four primary reasons for opposing the cuts:
 
• “We believe that it is immoral to work out the consequences of adult behavior on the backs of children. Ideally we should give more resources to better prepare this generation to inherit the world we are leaving them.
 
• “The proposed cuts disproportionately affect poor and minority children, further entrenching institutional racism in our society.
 
• “The lack of resources will reinforce the school to prison pipeline. Such cuts are a false economy, as keeping a child in school is a fraction of the cost of keeping him in prison.
 
• “These cuts will reverse the hard-won progress made in recent years.”
 
The letter bears the signatures of the Rt. Rev. Mark S. Sisk, Bishop of New York, and the Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam, Bishop Suffragan of New York. They have written the letter on behalf of the Council of Episcopal Bishops of New York State. The other members of the council are the Rt. Revs. Gladstone B. Adams III, Bishop of Central New York; David Ball, Bishop of Albany, retired; Michael Garrison, Bishop of Western New York; William Love, Bishop of Albany; Prince Singh, Bishop of Rochester; and Lawrence Provenzano, Bishop Coadjutor of Long Island.
 
“At our triennial General Convention this past July we passed a resolution to encourage every parish in the nation to establish a relationship with a local public school and challenging every Episcopalian to give forty hours a year in direct service (tutoring, after school programs, ESL, etc.), advocacy and teacher support,” they wrote. “We are doing our part. We urge the state to do its part by restoring the cuts that will do irreparable harm to our most vulnerable children. As Frederick Douglass so wisely said, ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.’”
 
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