City Considers Closing Beacons
BY ROSS BARKAN
Lost in the clamor over charter schools, overcrowded classrooms and teacher evaluations, the closure of afterschool programs in Queens have Beacon advocates worried that families who depend on them to provide a safe space for children in the afternoon will suffer.
The City has targeted 16 for closure; of those targeted, seven will be closed by July. Queens is home to seven of the targeted Beacons.
Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) has become a vocal advocate for saving two Beacons, the Parsons Education Center and MS 216, which are located in his district. A majority of the Beacons targeted for closure are located in areas not deemed “high-need” by the Dept. of Youth and Community Development; many of the Beacons are located in northern and eastern Queens.
“I am so fortunate to have that Beacon because I’m a single parent,” said Victoria Brown-Douglas, a parent of an 11-year-old daughter who attends the Parsons Beacon. “I work two jobs, and if it were not for that Beacon, my kid would be a latchkey kid. God knows what else would be going on in her life.”
Deep Ghosh, director of Youth Development at the Child Center of NY, a charity dedicated to providing counseling and intervention programs for youth that supervises several Beacons, believes DYCD is failing to understand who needs Beacons the most.
“If you take away schools in (Councilman Mark) Weprin’s district, for example, you are really most probably impacting lower income folks in those identified zip codes,” Ghosh said. “The disparity between rich and poor in some Eastern Queens areas will grow.”
The Beacons will operate with a $34.4 million budget in the 2013 fiscal year, down from $39.1 million the year before. Heriberto Barbot, chief of staff of DYCD, would not specify how certain Beacons are targeted for closure. According to Barbot, the list has not been finalized.
Ghosh explained that lower-income families, even living in areas that are considered wealthier relative to the rest of the borough, cannot afford to provide the same supervision for their children as more affluent families. Beacons were created during the David Dinkins mayoral administration in the early 1990’s as a campaign against the rising tide of violence and crime that was then afflicting the City.
Currently, there are 80 Beacons. They feature literacy programs, tutoring and college prep classes, and athletics, among other services. Since they are public, they are free and open to anyone. Beacons also offer adult programs in parental skills, familial relations, tenant advocacy, and classes for English-language learners.
“I will be destroyed should we lose our beacon programs,” said Marc Haken, Chair of the Youth Education and Library Committee on Community Board 8. “They’ve become such hubs for the community.”
Reach Reporter Ross Barkan at rbarkan@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127.