SAVE HCIA PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN,YOUTH and PARENTS HEIGHTS CENTER FOR IMMIGRANTS ADVOCACY, INC. PETITION TO: Governor Eliot Spitzer Honorable Governor: The undersigned HCIA Parents, youth and leadership hereby submit this petition to elicit your support on behalf of children and youth from our community. This petition seeks to secure space for HCIA after school and camp programs in Washington Heights, Region 10, School District #6. Since September 2006, HCIA community program has been the target of a political outrage by the principal of PS173 Manhattan. Parents have made numerous attempts to resolve this discriminatory practice, but our request have been ignored by Region 10 Superintendent and/or the Department of Education at Tweed. HCIA Educational Camp is a licensed program-site base at PS173, and tax exempt under the Internal Revenue Code 501 (c)(3). Children from the community are looking forward to enjoy the summer activities as they have for the last five years. HCIA needs to secure space from July 5, 2007 to August 24, 2007. Young teenagers are also looking forward to work at the site of their choice: HCIA summer camp, under the city SYEP subcontract with another CBO, where they earn a salary, feel comfortable, respected and happy. Parents hereby oppose the unprecedented, and unjust practice by the principal who locked out HCIA and two other community groups without previous notice to parents, groups leaders or communtiy residents. The principal\'s action has hurt, profoundly, our children and youth who enjoy the program activities during the after school hours, and summer as well. For we ask: Who does DOE protect We repeal this action because we believe that eliminating positive, grassroot community after school programs is not the right step in the right direction. Further, the principal\'s decision to lock out HCIA community program came about even before the Mayor announced his reorganization plan in January 2007. A. The action constitute a great injustice for under privileged children, youth and families who have depended long enough on HCIA services to better their education and/or quality of lives. B. Parents refuse to give up HCIA services because although the school is under corrective action for nearly 6 years, our children are meeting DOE standard. Therefore, we don\'t want to trade a program where our children not only are doing well for five consecutive years, but they are emotionally stable; they feel loved, secured and respected. FOR THESE REASONS, we respectfully ask you to weight the impact of the principal\'s absolute power over innocent children or over a given school where a principal has no regard for human rights, and/or the welfare of under privileged children. And further, The action by this principal is a concrete example that centralizing power through the reorganization plan would hurt further innocent children, parents, or teachers if they depend on the absolute control of a principal who lacks compassion or empathy toward specific groups. We ask you Governor Spitzer to reflect on the late Martin Luther King, Jr. work: \"Where do we go from now\" Do we have to phase out just because \"a principal\" is insensitive to the needs of minority children We refuse to give up because we need HCIA services. The Center leaders care, and they are impacting our children\'s lives positively. PLEASE HELP US TO SECURE SPACE TO CONTINUE PROVIDING SERVICES FOR NEEDY CHILDREN, YOUTH AND PARENTS. Support our petition. Respectfully submitted on behalf of HCIA After School Program And Youth Summer Employment site, Kegsy Castillo and HCIA Parents Youth Program Coordinator HCIA, Washington Bridge Station PO Box 623, New York, New York 10033 [email protected]