Daily News: EXCLUSIVE: Council members call Blaz to fund summer programs
BEN CHAPMAN NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A whopping 31 City Council members have signed a letter calling on Mayor de Blasio to reinstate funding for optional summer programs serving thousands of city kids, the Daily News has learned.
The free summer programs, which provide students with tutoring and extracurricular activities, would have been an expansion of de Blasio’s after-school program for middle schoolers called School’s Out New York City, which has programs in more than 560 schools.
De Blasio pulled the funding for programs from his executive budget so the money can be used to turn around struggling schools — but advocates and City Council members are calling on the mayor to reverse course.
“We urge you to please act on behalf of the thousands of middle school students who depend on these summer programs,” reads the letter, which was delivered to de Blasio Wednesday and signed by City Council Youth Services chair Mathieu Eugene, among others.
Advocates believe that up to 40,000 kids could be impacted by the cuts.
