UV superintendent urges state officials to reconsider budget plan
NEW BERLIN – In a letter to New York State officials, Unadilla Valley Superintendent Robert J. Mackey said that the new executive budget proposal would bring schools one step back towards the 2008 recession.
According to the New York State website on the 2018 executive budget,"For the seventh consecutive year, the budget holds spending growth to 2 percent, while investing in jobs and infrastructure, reducing taxes and expanding access to education with the groundbreaking Excelsior Scholarship program."
It states, "The 2018 budget increases education aid to $25.8 billion, the largest investment in state history."
Superintendent Mackey, sent officials a message in response to the proposed budget on February 20 after researching the potential executive budget's impact on his schools.
"The executive budget proposal is lacking in terms of foundation aid increases," Mackey said in the message.
"This will not only mean a difficult 2018-2019 school year, but also halt much of the progress we have made since the Great Recession for the foreseeable future," he said, "High-needs rural districts need a significant boost to foundation aid or they will continue to fall further behind average and low-need districts."
He added, "School districts, in order to retain as much student programming as possible, will be forced to cut expense-driven aid categories. This, in turn, will make much of the projected $768,000,000 statewide increase null and void because if expense-driven aid is not spent, there can be no reimbursement to districts."
"In short," he said, "the overall state aid amount, which is less than half of what the board of regents requested, would even further shortchange our students and our local economies."
Mackey told state officials in closing that the increases in expense-driven aid as shown in the executive budget proposal must be shifted into Foundation Aid immediately.
The state's budget statement also stated, "As we now begin our open, public process of carefully reviewing the Governor's proposal, your views and input on his budget plan are critical. So whether your top priority is cutting taxes, helping small businesses, or increasing investment in important areas like education, public safety or transportation, your opinions are always greatly appreciated."
Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, Assembly Speaker of the House Carl Heastie, Senators Fred Akshar and James Seward, and Assemblymen Clifford W. Crouch, Gary Finch, and William Magee, had been sent the superintendent's message, but the district has yet to receive a response.
Photo: Superintendent Robert Mackey
According to the New York State website on the 2018 executive budget,"For the seventh consecutive year, the budget holds spending growth to 2 percent, while investing in jobs and infrastructure, reducing taxes and expanding access to education with the groundbreaking Excelsior Scholarship program."
It states, "The 2018 budget increases education aid to $25.8 billion, the largest investment in state history."
Superintendent Mackey, sent officials a message in response to the proposed budget on February 20 after researching the potential executive budget's impact on his schools.
"The executive budget proposal is lacking in terms of foundation aid increases," Mackey said in the message.
"This will not only mean a difficult 2018-2019 school year, but also halt much of the progress we have made since the Great Recession for the foreseeable future," he said, "High-needs rural districts need a significant boost to foundation aid or they will continue to fall further behind average and low-need districts."
He added, "School districts, in order to retain as much student programming as possible, will be forced to cut expense-driven aid categories. This, in turn, will make much of the projected $768,000,000 statewide increase null and void because if expense-driven aid is not spent, there can be no reimbursement to districts."
"In short," he said, "the overall state aid amount, which is less than half of what the board of regents requested, would even further shortchange our students and our local economies."
Mackey told state officials in closing that the increases in expense-driven aid as shown in the executive budget proposal must be shifted into Foundation Aid immediately.
The state's budget statement also stated, "As we now begin our open, public process of carefully reviewing the Governor's proposal, your views and input on his budget plan are critical. So whether your top priority is cutting taxes, helping small businesses, or increasing investment in important areas like education, public safety or transportation, your opinions are always greatly appreciated."
Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, Assembly Speaker of the House Carl Heastie, Senators Fred Akshar and James Seward, and Assemblymen Clifford W. Crouch, Gary Finch, and William Magee, had been sent the superintendent's message, but the district has yet to receive a response.
Photo: Superintendent Robert Mackey
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