​Literacy Programs and the RCSD Budget

By Ewan Craddock
 
In 2019 the students of the RCSD walked out of their classes, the reason being 150 educators were being cut by the district while the central office budgets and employees were untouched. This action was done without the taxpayer and local community input as it was done outside of the window for budget drafting, in the middle of December just before the winter break. This is important now more than ever as the district is shutting down the partnership between East High School and the University of Rochester, which brought great gains to the graduation rate and the literacy of the students. The reason why the district is shutting down the partnership is because the district believes that it is too expensive and that the district could do as good of a job doing what the EPO has done. Rochester homeowners have one of the highest property tax burdens in the country and yet there is a budget deficit in the district.