B'klyn parents: We'll sue to halt Board of Ed. Cuts

By William J. Gorta

A group of Brooklyn parents will go to court this week to prevent the Board of Education from slashing programs to close a nearly $200 million budget shortfall.

Their lawyer, Mark Pollard, said he will file papers asking the city and board to explain the cuts in court.

"We're hoping an injunction will prevent the cuts from being implemented and [that] these programs can move forward until a court makes a determination," Pollard said.

If enacted, Pollard said, the cuts "would irreparably and immediately damage every child in the school system."

The group made its announcement in front of board headquarters in Brooklyn yesterday.

They were joined by Norman Siegel, a candidate for public advocate who said the cuts would be especially harmful to minority children.

"It's civil-rights issue - 84.5 percent of the students in the New York public school system now are African-American, Latino and Asian," he said, "They are not getting a basic, sound education."

But a board spokeswoman said schools Chancellor Harold Levy had no choice but to order districts to trim expenses.

"The chancellor would agree public schools in New York City are significantly under-funded," said Karen Finney.

One parent was particularly galled the cuts would devastate many after-school programs.

"I'm very angry about the cuts because they hurt us at our lifeline," said Denise Gibbs, who has two children in Brooklyn public schools. "If you ask any child when they have the most unsupervised time, it's right after school."

Finney said the cuts to after-school programs were unfortunate but necessary.

"The most important thing the chancellor is trying to preserve is the core 9-to-3 mission," she said.