Cynthia Nixon
Actor; supporter of the Alliance for
Quality Education
Mother of Samantha, 10, and Charles, 4
"In 2001, on the first day of my daughter's kindergarten, I arrived to find that massive budget cuts had taken place over the summer, so the public school I was taking my daughter to was very different from the one I had toured earlier that year. An assistant principal, the music teacher, and the art teacher had been let go; some of the kids were in trailers because there weren't enough classrooms. That day, I went to a protest that had been organized by the Alliance for Quality Education, and I liked what I saw. We fought the cuts and were able to repeal most of them, which made a huge difference for my child's school. Now we go up to the state capital to lobby and have face-to-face meetings with politicians. When I work with the alliance, I know I'm doing something for my children and the 1.1 million other schoolkids in New York City."
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