Senator Charles E. Schumer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 22, 2007

Schumer, Clinton Announce Key Senate Panel Approves $1.6 Million For NYC Arts And Education

Senators Worked Closely with Committee To Include Funding In Spending Bill

Funding will go toward Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Public Library, and New York Hall of Science

Bill will now be sent to the Senate Floor

Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved $1.6 million in federal funds for New York City arts and education. The funds will go toward educational programs and facilities at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Public Library and the New York Hall of Science through the FY08 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill.

“When people think of New York City, they think of our vibrant, dynamic arts scene and the great museums and educational institutions of our city. These cultural and intellectual venues are what set New York apart, and make this city such a fascinating, ever evolving place to live,” Schumer said today. “These funds will bolster these institutions, allowing all New Yorkers, and New Yorkers to come, the opportunity to hear the best jazz, see the best performances and visit the best museums in the world.”

"New York's cultural institutions are the jewels of our city. They are also among our greatest teachers, expanding horizons for families from New York and visitors from around the world. I am proud that with this funding we will expand access to arts and science education for our children and literacy for adults," said Senator Clinton.

$250,000 in funds will go toward Jazz at Lincoln Center to support the center’s education programs, which reach one million people nationwide annually, and over 28,000 New York City youth. The programs are developed and implemented on a national scale to bring performing arts and arts education programs to students of all ages and walks of life.

Another $250,000 in funds will be used to help Carnegie Hall continue to design and disseminate its standards-based K-12 music education programs that are being adopted by orchestras and schools around the country through strategic partnerships forged with orchestras, arts organizations, and schools nationwide. This project employs strategies that can help to improve the quality of teaching and learning, both in and out of the classroom, for hundreds of thousands of students and their teachers.

$500,000 will be used for the Brooklyn Public Library’s Learning Centers, which have made a significant contribution to literacy promotion in the borough. This program was started as a small project at the Central Library with a small group of Literacy Volunteers. The Adult Literacy Program has grown to five centers throughout Brooklyn with professional staff and volunteers. Since its inception, thousands of adults have acquired reading, writing and math literacy, as well as analytical skills, through the Center’s group instruction, which is led by trained volunteers.

Finally, $600,000 will go to the New York Hall of Science’s Rocket Park and Early Childhood Science Playground to involve children in science and learning through the physical environment around them. The Hall of Science is one of the preeminent science and learning museums in the country, featuring the largest collection of hands-on science exhibits in the city, with more than four-hundred interactive exhibits.

Today, the FY08 Appropriations Bill for Labor, Health and Human Services and Education passed the Appropriations Committees and will now head to the floor for a full vote before the Senate. The bill will then proceed to the Conference Committee and finally will be sent to the President before becoming law.