Urban Voices, Speak Up, Speak Out
By Robin Vinci at April 12, 2024 | 9:00 pm | Print
The Second Annual New Britain Pro-Education Rally saw New Britain educators, parents, students and Board of Education members come together Wednesday night to rally around the theme “Urban Education, Urban Voices.”
“Education is our civil rights,” Sharon Beloin-Saavedra told an excited crowd at the New Britain High School Gymnasium. “The theme of this rally is two-fold. It is to celebrate all that is good and strong about our school system and the wonderfully talented children that come through our doors everyday. At the same time our kids are under resourced. We are not getting what our kids deserve as far as funding from the state. We are not valued the same way as our suburban peers.”
Students displayed posters from such highly esteemed figures as Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
Saavedra said kids today are segregated based on their socio-economic status.
“We want a state funded standard for class size by grade; we want a state funding standard for technology in every classroom; we want the state funding standard for facilities and infrastructure,” said Saavedra. “And we want the state standard for student support services with student to teacher ratios equalized.”
A filled gymnasium cheered each request.
“We must exercise our urban voices in peaceful yet powerful assemblies to advocate for our children,” said Saavedra. “Today’s rally is the beginning.”
Saavedra asked the group, “are you ready to join the movement?”
Ron Jakubowski, acting superintendent of schools, said New Britain schools have a lot of positive things going for it. He spoke of the great academies in New Britain like La Pensee and HALS.
“Here at New Britain High School we have the national high school principal of the year (Mike Foran) and we have a growing health academy that we are so proud of,” said Jakubowski. “We have all kinds of programs for all kinds of kids.”
Jakubowski praised the band and sports as well. He said there are graduates from New Britain at all the top schools like Yale.
“Something good must be going on here,” he said. “The diversity we have in New Britain High School makes New Britain what it is. But we are not a divided high school at all. New Britain High School is the real world.”
Sue Truglio, president of the teachers union, said due to under funding from the state, New Britain teachers face an uphill climb each day.
“This is not a complaint. It is the harsh reality we face everyday in our classrooms,” Truglio said. “Right now state funding of education is well below the 50 percent mark. Municipalities like ours are left to make the decisions on education and raising property taxes.”
The youngest Board of Education member Erin Stewart, 24, spoke about what she sees the City and the Board of Education needing.
“One of my goals is to address the inadequate way that the state funds our district. The current funding system is not fair, and it makes the job harder for communities like ours,” Stewart said. “It is one of the reasons that Connecticut has the largest achievement gap in the nation.”
Stewart told everyone to communicate with members of the Board of Education, legislators, the Common Council and the Mayor on issues of concern.
“So get up, stand up, and speak out. Let us know what’s working and what isn’t, speak out about what we can do better to help educate our youth, let your voice be heard loud and clear; keep fighting for the future of our children, not just your own, and together we will see progress,” Stewart said. “There is no limit to how much we can accomplish.”
The rally also included a parade of international flags by students from DiLoreto Dual Language Magnet School, performances by the New Britain High school band and show choir, as well as the Jefferson Hotstix drummers from Jefferson Elementary School.
