Hello John,

Take a stand for our schools and communities, and email your State Legislators NOW. Governor Hochul’s budget proposal includes harmful cuts, but together, we can push back.

What's Happening

High need districts, despite what the governor claims, are bearing half of the cuts made to the new funds schools were expecting for Foundation Aid. These school districts educate 8 in every 10 Black and Latinx students and English Language Learners in the state. All of these low-income districts rely mostly on the state for funding. Compared to wealthier districts, high needs districts are still getting a significant cut, one that would put them back to the chronic underfunding era.

I will be speaking up for these priorities at the New York State joint legislative budget hearing on elementary and secondary education today. You can read my testimony for more details.

What We Must Do

Governor Hochul is prioritizing the wealthy yet again, translating to fewer resources for our students. Urge your state legislators to:

1. Reject the governor’s proposals on Foundation Aid and fully restore funding at $927 million.
2. Provide $1 million to the State Education Department and the Board of Regents to engage experts, stakeholders, and the general public to update the formula.
3. Provide $2 billion to schools for their immediate needs in the FY25 budget to avoid gaps in the services they provide.
4. Invest $1.5 billion in early childhood education by providing supplemental wages to the child care workforce and make child care assistance available to all children.
5. Raise revenue by taxing millionaires, billionaires, and corporations.

Email your legislators now and demand that they reject Governor Hochul’s proposed budget that makes cuts to our students most in need. Urge them to stand up for students and families by pushing for adequate school funding, universal childcare, addressing expiring federal dollars, and implementing wealth taxes. Our students’ futures depend on it.