NYSUT officers demanded Monday the immediate release of tens of millions of dollars in federal grant money targeted to help New York's most vulnerable students now being arbitrarily withheld by the State Education Department.

"The State Education Department has decided that acting as a bully, and acting as a bureaucrat, is better than meeting the needs of New York's neediest children," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi as he stood on the steps of the SED building with fellow NYSUT officers Maria Neira, Kathleen Donahue and Lee Cutler. (NYSUT Executive Vice President Andrew Pallotta at the time of this event was attending a simultaneous press conference at the state Capitol regarding the closure of corporate loopholes.)

• VIDEO: Activists say loss of funding means loss of programs for kids (Albany, Rochester, Schenectady, Syracuse, Yonkers)

Joined by teachers, parents, administrators and superintendents from across the state, Iannuzzi said suspension of the School Improvement Grant money threatens programs for special needs students and English language learners, as well as tutoring, mentoring, after-school and intervention services. Also jeopardized by the SED decision are hundreds of teaching jobs, including the possible loss of 11 in Schenectady, 14 in Albany, 19 in Yonkers, 35 in Rochester, 58 in Buffalo, and more than 60 in Syracuse.

The union on Monday also launched an action campaign as part of its effort to free the SIG money, and urges its members to make their voices heard by emailing the Board of Regents and requesting it order SED to release the funds.

• TAKE ACTION: Urge the Regents to Do What's Right

State Education Commissioner John King announced at the start of the new year the agency would suspend the grants, claiming the state's 10 neediest school districts did not meet a Dec. 31 deadline on submitting school-improvement plans required under federal Race to the Top guidelines. Though the agency could have granted waivers to the school systems - as was done in 14 other states - SED decided to withhold the money, threatening programs and teaching positions in districts from New York City to Albany to Buffalo. The decision raised eyebrows since SED itself asked for, and was granted, a waiver in July so that it had more time to prepare its Race to the Top application.

But Iannuzzi said despite the agency's public explanation, SED's action is far-reaching and hurts the state's most vulnerable children "over and over again."

Rochester Teachers Association Second Vice President Margaret Sergent said the SED action would strip staff away from the district's Response Intervention program, which reaches the most needy of the city's vulnerable students. She also said essential staff will also be taken away from the district's new teacher-evaluation system which was established collaboratively between labor and management

Iris Williams, whose grandchildren attend school in Schenectady, said she was upset that SED's decision threatened the district's effective mentoring program. Williams added the suspension of the funding was especially troubling coming on the heels of consecutive years of deep state aid cuts and widespread education job losses due to New York's economic problems

Meanwhile, Albany City School Superintendent Ray Coluciello said the district had made a commitment to students and parents to provide services. Now, with SED withholding $3.5 million earmarked for Albany, the superintendent said it will be impossible to live up to that commitment. The only alternative, Coluciello said, would be a tax increase of 3 percent, which he deemed unacceptable.