Click here to Contact George Maziarz (R-62) New York State
Senate
Click here to Contact Jane Corwin (R-142) New York State Assembly
Click here for copy of letter below
The Honorable
New York State Assembly/The Senate of New York (choose one)
Legislative Office Building
Albany NY 12248
I am a the Royalton-Hartland Central School District and I write today to express my deep concern about what is happening to my school district. I know our state is facing enormous financial difficulties, but our school district has been disproportionately harmed as a result of the Gap Elimination Adjustment and state aid cuts which have occurred in the last two years. This simply cannot continue.
The aid cuts enacted by the Governor disproportionately hurt schools in poor rural upstate school districts. For example, our school district lost $1,603 per pupil, while three similar sized districts in Westchester County lost $469, $529, and $393 respectively, with a county-wide average of just $722 per pupil, while the average per- student cut in Niagara County was $1,466. The students in those school districts already enjoy an enormous educational advantage over our students due to the extensive programs they offer. This aid cut has caused our school district to raise class sizes, reduce athletics, cut electives and BOCES programs, eliminate equipment, and lay off the equivalent of 23 teachers, administrators, and support staff. Even with all these cuts our district has had to raise taxes 10% over the last two years. I assure you this was not the case in Westchester County.
The school districts in your legislative district are being hurt more deeply than most others in the state. With recent legislation passed in Albany in regard to taxes on the wealthy, it would appear that the Governor's promise of $805 million increase in education aid is safe. Please take action to assure this aid is distributed in a similar fashion to the way it was reduced, so that we can proportionally receive our fair share. Should the Governor and legislature fail our schools again, and cuts are necessary in 2012-13, reduce each district the same amount of aid per pupil. This would be much fairer. Poor districts would be hurt less, while wealthier districts would contribute more to solving the state’s fiscal problem.
As our representative in Albany, will you support what I propose? Our children need you. Please propose legislation to support equity in school funding for all districts.
I deeply appreciate your strong support of our schools in the past, and I hope you will demonstrate the same now and in the future. Our children need you.