In 1993, parents sued New York State for severely under funding public schools (Campaign for Fiscal Equity "CFE") and parents won!
In 2006, The New York State Court of Appeals ruled that NYS is violating students constitutional right to a "sound and basic education" by not properly funding the schools as needed. NYS committed to paying a 5.5 billion (BILLION with a "B") to public schools statewide over a 4 year course from 2007 to 2011 (using a formula called Foundation Aid). Between 2007 and 2009, $2.4 billion was paid out to various districts state-wide, under the then current NYS Governor, Eliot Spitzer. Then we experienced a recession, and all funds were frozen. Our new and now current Governor Cuomo made deep cuts to the the education budget. 13 years later, our public schools still need this money. We are still fighting for this money and we need everyone's help. Below are links to documents to give you all further information about this. The documents also give the website for the organization, AQE formed from this lawsuit. Go on their website to join this fight. You can look up your school to see how much money NYS owes your school, you can send emails, mail letters and make phone calls to your elected officials to let them know you know about this money NYS owes our public schools and we want them to fight for this money. Please print these attachments and distribute to your community members. Help us spread the word about this, bring it to your PTA/PA, SLT and other parent meetings. The Senate is in session now, they are proposing, discussing, voting and passing bills and will finalize the NYS budget by the end of March. We need to make sure the budget includes the Foundation Aid to fully fund our schools as NYS was ordered to do! Just for our knowledge as District 4 schools, D4 stretches across Senate & Assembly districts. Below are the Senators and Assembly persons and the MONEY their schools are owed in their districts. Senator Brian Benjamin NY Senate District 30 is owed 36 million Senator Josè Serrano NY Senate District 29 is owed 17 million Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez Assembly District 68 is owed 58 million Assemblywoman Inez Dickens Assembly District 70 is owed 22 million NYS OWES TAG $862,199! The PTA Secretary went to Albany on Wednesday February 12 to fight for this money and met with the New York State Assembly Speaker, Carl Heastie to discuss funding our schools in New York City and met with Senator Jose Serrano to discuss funding our schools in District 4 specifically! The following are links to the above-mentioned documents:
Please visit AQE's website for more information, subscribe to receive notifications, follow them on social media and click to find out who your elected officials are and HOW MUCH MONEY your school is owed! Do not hesitate to contact the PTA Secretary to discuss further. Santa is coming to District 4! There will be lot's of fun activities for families which include FREE pictures with Santa! Each child will receive a FREE toy from Santa (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST). CHILD MUST BE PRESENT TO RECEIVE THEIR FREE TOY!
We look forward to seeing you there! *** Buenas Tardes Familias! ¡Papá Noel viene al Distrito 4! ¡Habrá muchas actividades divertidas para familias que incluyen fotos GRATIS con Santa! Cada niño recibirá un juguete GRATUITO de Santa (DURANTE EL SUMINISTRO). EL NIÑO DEBE ESTAR PRESENTE PARA RECIBIR SU JUGUETE GRATUITO! Esperamos verlos allí! Please join us for our next General PTA meeting at 8:15 in the morning on Tuesday, December 17th.
At This meeting we will have a CEC member & TAG parent discuss the high school application process. We will also vote to increase the debate line by $2k in the budget, to cover the 5th grade Debate program at TAG. Click here to view the current PTA budget. If you have any questions for TAG’s administration (and/or the PTA executive board), please submit your questions to TAG PTA President, Mark Levin by 12noon on Monday December 16th and we will try to address your concerns. Hope to see you there, TAG PTA Dear TAG Families, The Scholastic Book Fair is almost here! We are proud to announce that this year's Fair will take place December 4th through December 6th. Our Fair encourages reading while helping raise funds for our school! It will be open during the day and there will be a schedule teachers will follow so that every class has their own special time to visit. Please send your child with cash (include sales tax) or sign up for a convenient way to shop cash free called eWallet. Note that, this year, only the children who have cash or a scholastic e-wallet certificate will visit the book fair. Please use the link below to direct you to the Scholastic home page where you can view the book flyer, hours, and eWallet link. Volunteer Opportunity WE NEED BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS TO HELP MAKE THIS EVENT A SUCCESS! And as always, please email [email protected] (ATTN: Book Fair contact, Ami Artz) with any questions. Thank you for your support!
TAG PTA Monday, November 25th, is the annual TAG Young Scholars Picture Day. We are looking for parents to volunteer their time assisting our photographer and helping the kids look their best for their pictures throughout the day. If you can help and are available, please email Fundraising as soon as possible or simply sign up by clicking here: We encourage everyone to go online and purchase your picture package. Please.
If you only want to purchase the digital package, you must do so online. Use the "Picture Day ID": TAG Young Scholars Picture Day ID: OV389081Q0 Note that ALL 8th grade student portraits will be taken in Cap & Gown Please join CEC 4 and the Alliance for Quality Education to discuss school funding, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and how to fight for the money owed to our public schools.
When: Wednesday, Nov 20th @ 6PM Where: Tito Puente Education Complex on 109th bet 2nd and 3rd Ave. Figure Skating in Harlem helps girls transform their lives and grow in confidence, leadership and academic achievement. We are the only organization in the world for girls of color that combines the power of education with access to the artistic discipline of figure skating to build champions in life.
We have a few spots remaining for 1st – 5th graders and we would love to welcome a few TAG families to the FSH family. As programming has already begun, we will have to act fast to get your child enrolled. |
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ArchivesPast TAG newsletters, family engagement committee weekly digests, and miscellaneous meeting handouts:
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