Community organizations rally against potential cuts to key youth program

Community organizations, elected officials and others spoke out in a virtual rally on Wednesday against possible cuts to a New York City program that offers job readiness training and other services for high school students who have been falling behind educationally.

The Learning to Work program offers paid internship opportunities, helps students explore college and career options, and provides other support to help students graduate from high school. Nonprofits operate the initiative at transfer schools, which are full-time high schools focused on helping students falling behind on credits, and at Young Adult Borough Centers, which offer afternoon and evening educational programs to students who can’t attend high school during the day. 

New York City cut $707 million from the Department of Education’s budget this summer to contend with falling revenues, but it’s not yet clear if and how cuts may come down to the job readiness program. 

“I’m here in support of the Learning to Work program because what it did for me was allowed me to be an independent adult,” David Bernal, who had participated in the program in his youth, said during the rally. “It allowed me the opportunity to avoid having to look for other social programs as an adult.”

Staff who operate the program for high-schoolers across the five boroughs emphasized that they have been a source of stability for low-income students throughout the pandemic.

“They depend on Good Shepherd, and the Learning to Work program, for toiletries, socio-emotional support, guidance and money,” said Melody Ruiz, senior internship coordinator at Good Shepherd Services. “And without these supports, the city’s dropout rate will go up. Our students depend on us for income that helps them, and, for the majority of them, put food on their table and help out their families.”