In bad news for immigrant families, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget for the upcoming year proposes significant cuts to educational programs, contradicting the warm words he had for immigrants in his recent State of the City address.

Children of recent immigrants who do not speak English fluently make up 14 percent of students in city public schools, but they are dropping out at record rates. After four years of study, their graduation rate is only half the average rate for all students.

At a meeting with leaders of immigrant organizations last year, Mayor Bloomberg promised to allocate more resources to prevent such a crisis among children who do not know English well. "So what made the mayor break his promises?" perplexed parents and leaders of immigrant communities are now wondering.

Gone from the budget are $15 million to pay 113 English-language teachers in the current fiscal year and 226 in the upcoming fiscal year.

“Immigrants will suffer the most from budget cuts," said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. "If he truly cares about immigrants, he must restore funding for English-language programs, as well as increase funding for adult English-language classes and other immigrant services."

The mayor’s budget also includes cuts to funding for all public schools of 1.75 percent ($100 million) that will take effect towards the middle of the next academic year. These cuts will force school administrators to eliminate after-school programs for students who have fallen behind and to leave teaching vacancies unfilled. Some schools may even end up in debt. Leaders of immigrant communities, human rights organizations and unions have announced their intention to try to make state and city authorities restore financing for schools.

“Skilled teaching of the English-language and bilingual programs in schools is very important for the children of recent immigrants,” said Mae Lee, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association. “These programs should not be cut back, but supported and expanded so that our young people can set out on the path to the American dream."

Immigrant organizations have also expressed their concern about cuts to two other programs benefiting immigrants – the N.Y.C. Adult Literacy Initiative and the Opportunities Initiative, which both provide funding for English classes for 1.7 million New Yorkers with a limited knowledge of English.