I am hopeful we can set aside issues of turf and join together to make our children and teachers safe. If a child or young adult displays threatening behavior, there should be the option to remove that child from the school, so that others are not impeded in their desire to learn. The Mayor announced that he will work with Chancellor Crew to develop six schools for students who threaten other students or teachers, so that students can learn and teachers can teach without fear. The arts inspire hope. But most of all, arts education opens students to the appreciation of beauty.
Nothing ennobles a young mind more than learning about painting, sculpture, music, drama and dance.
With the help of the Annenberg Foundation, and in partnership with Commissioner Schuyler Chapin and the Department of Cultural Affairs, the City and the Board of Education are working with many talented artists and cultural institutions to restore arts education to all of our public schools. The Mayor said that as we look to the future, the City must continue to rebalance its economy, so that new jobs and new development become a permanent part of New York City in the 21st Century. I won't rest, and I know you won't, until we restore all of the nearly 400,000 private-sector jobs lost from 1990 through 1993. The Mayor urged that the balance of his tax reduction plan must be implemented in order to provide permanent relief in the sales tax, reductions in the coop and condo property tax, in the unincorporated business tax, and certain reductions in the income tax. The Mayor thanked Speaker Vallone and the Council for the tax reductions already achieved.