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SRP sisters show support for
public education Talk about firsthand experiences of the value of BOCES programs 
May 21, 2003 From left, sisters Sherry Phillips, Ellen Krywy and Jean Green at May 3 rally. Besides the family bond, sisters Sherry Phillips, Jean Green and Ellen Krywy share a profession and a passion for children. The three teacher assistants and members of the Saratoga Adirondack BOCES Employees Association brought their concerns for public education and their students to the May 3 March for Public Education in Albany. They were part of a large School-Related Professionals contingent at the rally sponsored by a broad coalition, including their statewide union, New York State United Teachers. None had been to a rally before. "I didn't know what to expect," said Krywy, who has worked with students with disabilitie s for 15 years. "I knew there would be a lot of speakers but I didn't know how overwhelming it would be to talk with so many people from all over the state, who were all there for one thing - to help get funding for kids in schools." Green was awed by "being with so many people who feel the way you do." All three sisters wanted to go to the march because they have seen the benefits public education brings to all children, especially those with handicapping conditions, on both a personal and professional level. Green was told her son would never walk or talk after he was born 21 years ago. "They wanted to institutionalize him. Now he walks, he talks and - thanks to what he learned at BOCES programs - he knows so much about computers he can make them dance," the proud mother said. Krywy works in a school-to-work program for students with disabilities who are 18 to 21 years old. Besides being an aunt to a child with disabilities, one of her grandchildren is disabled. She knows the difference BOCES programs make. She was dismayed when the governor's proposed budget cut funding for the state's 38 Boards of Cooperative Educational Services by 25 percent, and sought to phase out BOCES as a separate aid category altogether by 2005. "I've seen parents so surprised that their kids can work at jobs," Krywy said. "They stock shelves at supermarkets, clean at hotels, answer phones at businesses, maintain convenience stores, work in kitchens and sort mail. "A lot of these kids come in with no expectations and, by the time they leave, they know they can do a lot of things," Krywy said. "This is the kind of program that will be cut if the budget is not restored." Joining the three sisters were SRP members from across the state. Tarcila Sanchez, a paraprofessional at CS 150 in the Bronx, had never been to Albany before. "I support public education," said Sanchez, a member of the United Federation of Teachers, NYSUT's affiliate in New York City. "I'm glad so many other people do, too." Senior typist Dorothy Lehman spent five hours on the bus to get to Albany from the Lewiston-Porter schools in Niagara County. Before she started the trip back, she was reflective. "I go to the NYSUT conferences and I get so much out of them. I learn so much at them," said the president of the Lewiston-Porter United Educational Employees. "Here's one time NYSUT has asked me to do something on a Saturday and I had to be here," she said. - Betsy Sandberg |
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