To: The New York State House, The New York State Senate, and Governor Andrew Cuomo
Be Truthful about Education Funding
“Education funding went up four per cent last year. Four percent is a lot of money. That is a very, very large increase. What else in your life has gone up four per cent? Most people’s incomes have not gone up by 4%. At one point you cannot get water from a stone.”-Gov. Cuomo
Governor, please stop being dishonest.
We have all seen many costs rise beyond 4% over the last 12 months, as have our schools with gasoline prices up 6%, diesel up 9%, health care costs up 12%, and according to the Food Price Index; households face over a 5% increase in rising food costs. Our school districts shoulder these cost increases with historically declining state support. Since the 2009-2010 school year, one small, rural district (Cambridge Central School) has lost 12% in financial support provided by the state INCLUDING your reported 4% increase last year.
Invest in the future of our state; our future residents, employees, business owners, and leaders. Recognize these future stakeholders are the very children sitting in our classrooms.
Governor, please stop being dishonest.
We have all seen many costs rise beyond 4% over the last 12 months, as have our schools with gasoline prices up 6%, diesel up 9%, health care costs up 12%, and according to the Food Price Index; households face over a 5% increase in rising food costs. Our school districts shoulder these cost increases with historically declining state support. Since the 2009-2010 school year, one small, rural district (Cambridge Central School) has lost 12% in financial support provided by the state INCLUDING your reported 4% increase last year.
Invest in the future of our state; our future residents, employees, business owners, and leaders. Recognize these future stakeholders are the very children sitting in our classrooms.
Why is this important?
Governor Cuomo is misrepresenting the facts about Education funding and it could lay the legislative groundwork for another round of hurtful cuts in this year's upcoming budget cycle. We need to let our communities know the facts so the Governor's spin machine can not ultimately hurt our children again.