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Parents, students blast district budget cuts

WHAT SAY YOU? Here's what some students and parents had to say yesterday about proposed school cuts. * Theresa Ditunno, parent of a

WHAT SAY YOU?

Here's what some students and parents had to say yesterday about proposed school cuts.

* Theresa Ditunno, parent of a

first-grader at Greenfield Elementary School: "The cuts will really have an impact on teacher-student ratio, which is always bad for students because they don't get as much individual attention."

* Jacqueline Bershad, parent of a kindergartner at Greenfield: "I've heard that the art teacher is leaving, and she wouldn't be replaced. That would be a shame. Art is really one of the only extras they have."

* Christine Carlson, parent of a second-grader at Greenfield: "Public schools are already running on so little as it is. If they lay off teachers, all the new, energetic teachers will be the first to go. Those young teachers are the future of teaching, and losing them could do real long-term damage."

* Chris Eberhardt, a senior at Bodine High School: "We are treated like a number, and all they care about is test scores. Students have no reason to go to school if class sizes increase and funding is cut."

* Kyle Ross, a senior on the Bodine basketball team: "Sports help build team-leadership exercises, and without them, some students have nothing."

* Patricia Brown, parent of a 9-year-old student at Duckrey Elementary: "The cuts are not fair to us, our kids and our schools. How far can our kids go if they are not educated and getting a fair chance?"

* Ayshikia Henderson, parent

of three students at Duckrey: "There are already 32 students in one of my daughter's classroom. My daughter is on high honor role but gets into trouble because her attention is not being met."

* Cierra Rivera, an 11th-grader at Esperanza Academy: "The governor is cutting down our future."

* Maia Reumann-Moore, a ninth-grader at Masterman School: "The school cuts suck. Our school is falling apart, the ceiling caved in, there are termites in the basement and fungus is growing on the stairwell."

-Mary Mazzoni and David Foster