The Lo-Down: Community Groups Fight to Save After School Programs

By Ed Litvak

Community advocates are awaiting the release today of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s executive budget  — and hoping he’s heard their pleas to restore funding for after school programs and daycare.

Last week, social service organizations received word that nearly 200 programs would be eliminated. The Lower East Side – with its heavy concentration of publicly funded facilities – has been hit especially hard.  This evening, local elected officials and non-profit organizations are sponsoring a town hall meeting to galvanize support for saving the programs.  It will be held at P.S. 134, 293 East Broadway, at 6 p.m.

If the mayor and City Council do not restore the funding, programs at Lower East Side schools P.S. 2, P.S. 20, P.S. 124, P.S. 142, P.S. 137 and P.S. 140 would be forced to shut down.  Across the city, about 25,000 kids would be served as opposed to 53,000 who are now attending various programs.

Read more at: http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2012/05/community-groups-fight-to-save-after-school-programs.html