January 23, 2012

Legislative Office Building
Albany, New York

Chairman Farrell, Chairman DeFransisco, members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to share the perspective of the nearly 700 member school districts of the New York State School Boards Association and the over 5000 locally elected school officials who govern them. The coming year is much more than one more lean year that we must weather while waiting for a return to normal.

Video Clip

FOR RELEASE: January 23, 2011

CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards

Lawmakers should scrap the governor’s plan for $250 million in competitive grants and instead distribute those funds to high needs school districts, the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) said today in testimony to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

“Shifting the governor’s proposed $250 million grant program toward further reduction in the Gap Elimination Adjustment would do a great deal in rescuing many of our school districts from the brink of educational insolvency,” said David Little, NYSSBA’s director of governmental relations, who pointed out that districts are now operating under a property tax cap for the first time and facing the loss of $353 million in federal education funds after the 2011-12 school year.

• Start of Session Legislative Letter (3 pages - 275 KB) 
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