LNS organizer Oren Kadosh recently provided testimony to the Board of the Cincinnati Public Schools district on green investment alternatives to education budget cuts. Oren spoke at the invitation of the Cincinnati Education Justice Coalition (CEJC). You can hear his full testimony on the meeting livestream at 48:30.
Educators, students, and families across the country are currently facing school district budget cuts and a return to austerity, as COVID relief funds for schools start to dry up. At the same time, massive amounts of public green investment is available for schools to help cover upfront costs and plug those budget shortfalls with energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other healthy, green schools projects. School administrators have a choice – pursue harmful cuts on the backs of our workers and students — or jump start green investment in our schools instead. As Oren testified,
Instead of cutting to ‘keep the lights on,’ districts could be replacing those lights with advanced energy efficient ones, cutting electricity usage in half, rather than cutting school staff and resources.
It is not just public education, but all manner of public services, such as public mass transit systems, that are facing these harmful budget cuts. The harm ripples out to workers, communities, and our climate, as well as all manner of poor and working people who rely on public services.