The first week of the semester was tarnished by dreary rumblings around BHSEC. The source of this steadily brewing discontent? The proposed budget cuts that threaten the future of Bard High School Early College (both I and II).

Bloomberg’s original proposed budget would have cut 15,000 jobs in the NYC education sector; teachers who had been in the system for fewer than three years would have been laid off, and the remaining teachers redistributed. Luckily, President Obama’s Federal Stimulus Bill allotted an extra, unexpected $1 billion to New York City, eliminating the need for a mass lay-off.

It's easy to see how this plan would have destroyed both BHSEC institutions. There are almost no professors at BHSEC II who have been teaching for over three years, meaning that the whole school could potentially shut down. Essential programs would also have been cut at BHSEC I.

The Mayor’s budget proposal excludes two important grants that help BHSEC function as it does today. The first is the $500,000 Enhanced Math and Science Grant, which has already been cut by $40,000. This grant allows all BHSEC students to take college-level math and science courses before they graduate. These types of courses include Environmental Design, Race in Science & Society, Physics of Sound and Music, and Cryptology.

The other endangered grant is the $200,000 grant that funds BHSEC II in Queens. Altogether, the $700,000 in grants go to the Writing Center, college textbooks, lab supplies, college transfer advising, three full-time and three part-time science professors, and a full-time science lab technician.

Without these funds, the programs that make BHSEC different from other schools would have to be slashed. In short, the situation is dire.

However, Whitney Bates, Student Activities Coordinator, and Dean Martha Olson are working to mobilize the students. The budget will not be finalized until April 1, so BHSEC students and faculty still have time to act.

It is imperative that everyone do their part to keep the school afloat. Everything counts, from saving money by using less paper in the library to informing assemblymen about BHSEC’s program and why it should be prioritized in the budget. Students who call or write to their personal assemblymen should emphasize that BHSEC provides an education and a foundation for college that some students may not have received otherwise; over 95% of graduates enroll in four-year programs at top colleges and universities in New York State and around the country. BHSEC is also one of only three New York State public high schools included in the Wall Street Journal’s list of top U.S. high schools. It is important to point out what the school gives to the community as a whole. The education students receive at BHSEC prepares them to become well-informed members of society.

Many BHSEC faculty and students gathered outside of City Hall on March 4th to protest against education-related budget cuts, but the results of such activism remain to be seen. If every BHSEC family writes letters to its city councilperson and state assembly representative, and continues to work with Ms. Bates and Dean Olson, there is a chance we can really make a difference.