Education Donations Will Keep Utica Students On Track To Graduate

Utica, NY (WIBX) - The Utica School District will be directly impacted from the money raised by New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Following a June decision by the state education department to not offer the January 2012 Regents Exam for high school students--due to massive budget cuts--Bloomberg decided to raise the necessary funds to help pay for the exams, so students can graduate on time.

In a released statement Bloomberg said, "For thousands of our students, taking the Regents Exam in January will mean the difference between graduating and not graduating. When the State announced it didn't have the money for the January exams, I knew we had to do something, or we would be letting out kids down. I've always believed that you can either complain about your problems or do something to fix them."

Utica Mayor David Roefaro publicly thanked Bloomberg for his efforts, saying the $1.5 million raised, will allow area students to stay on pace for graduation. "I called him up to give him my congratulations and say thank you for our students who will be affected here locally--I just think it's a great gesture." Roefaro says Bloomberg's gesture was not political. "I just think that these gestures that he does come from the heart--they're not political because he doesn't need the politics of it. When you have a man of that amount of wealth, he does things because he thinks it's the right thing to do and I'm just glad that he sees education as number one."

Roefaro says he does not comprehend state officials cutting education funding considering how crucial it is to the future success of the nation. He pointed to his own efforts to raise money for area students through the Mayor's Charity Ball whose proceeds go towards supporting educational programs.