Apollo Restitullo and Matthew Jung, Class II
There is a common consensus among the various students and faculty present within Brooklyn Latin, that we as a school do not receive enough funding. The building is in a state of disrepair, with rust and damaged tiles around the classrooms and many issues with the bathrooms. In some classes, amenities such as tissue boxes, hand soap, sanitizer, and paper towels are also not available. These problems, coupled with the fact that we have to share the building, have led many to the question–“Where does our funding go?”
New York City’s public schools have, for the 2021-2022 school year, a total budget of $38 billion. Of that, New York City provides 51% of the budget, NY State provides 34%, and the Federal government and other sources provide 15%. According to the DOE website and an interview with Headmaster Billy, our school budget is designated by the number of students and their needs, as special needs students receive more money from the DOE. Brooklyn Latin’s approximately 800 students bring our school around a 7 million dollar budget. Headmaster Billy described the budget breakdown as half of it going towards teacher and staff salaries, and the IB program, which costs 1000 dollars per student. The rest goes into equipment, furniture, and some community extracurriculars such as the sports teams. Clubs don’t receive anything, as Headmaster Billy believes that generated funds through discipuli initiative prepares them for the real world and builds self-sufficiency. So why is the TBLS building falling apart with little solution? Do we not have the budget for it?
Yes and no.
We do not have the budget, but it is also not TBLS in charge of said issues. When there is an issue with the building, TBLS must go through a DOE facility that has its own entire budget dedicated to fixing the issues plaguing the school. What they do with the budget is their choice and not our school administration.
Along with these limitations on where we can put our budget, the school also suffers from the politics surrounding the NYC education system. In the past few years, specialized high schools and the SHSAT have been called into question because of the glaring issues with discrimination. Headmaster Billy believes that “Because we are a specialized high school [and] there's been a lot of conversation about this test …some politicians don't agree with the exam in the entry” leading to our lack of funding. Throughout the years, the number of offers to black & latine students has gone down while the city promises to diversify specialized high schools. Many politicians and others who have swayed over our funding have expressed that they don’t want us to receive more funding due to these political issues.
There is truth to what they’re saying.
In the fall of 2021 specialized high school admissions, only 3.6% of testers who received an offer to these schools were black and 5.4% were Hispanic. However, restricting the funding for schools hurts no one but the students. Unlike Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and the other specialized schools, we can't supplement our funding through means like alumni donations. TBLS was founded in 2006 and “this year was the first time we stepped out to [look for alumni funding]” So TBLS’ lack of funding, the years of asking for a new building, and other problems, are ultimately out of the school’s control. Through interviewing Headmaster Billy, we gained some valuable insight into the problems our administration faces and how much work they put in for us despite the many problems within the DOE.
In our findings, many of the complaints held by the discipuli of TBLS are out of the hands of the TBLS magistri and staff. Matters regarding the state of our shared building and funding, in general, are in the hands of NYC DOE staff, such as Superintendent Janice Ross. There are individual departments and staff within the DOE that handle the issues plaguing our school community. When questioned on how to fix the situation we are all currently in, the answer was simple: Take initiative and contact our superintendent (whose info can be found below) and the DOE. Tell them how this is affecting us and why we would benefit from a bigger budget, our own building, or repairs. Our voices matter.
Janice Ross, 1396 Broadway Brooklyn, NY 11221, 718-455-4635, JRoss11@schools.nyc.gov
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