Hi John,

This week’s Foundation Aid hearing is happening tomorrow, Thursday, July 25, at North Park Community School in Buffalo. We encourage you to participate and give testimony to make sure your voice is heard in this crucial process.

If you plan to attend in-person, you must submit a speaker registration form in advance. You can also submit testimony in writing, which can be prepared in as few as ten minutes using our easy-to-follow testimony guide (available in English and Spanish). The deadline to submit written testimony is September 6. If you’re unable to attend a hearing in-person, each of the upcoming hearings will be livestreamed, so you can still participate virtually. Resources you might need for your testimony are available on our website.

The Rockefeller Institute is gathering feedback to make nonbinding recommendations on potential revisions to the Foundation Aid formula. Your input will inform their final report, likely influencing Governor Hochul’s education budget proposal for the next fiscal year. The Governor has tasked the Rockefeller Institute with evaluating whether the formula is “fiscally sustainable,” potentially prioritizing budgetary concerns over the constitutional obligation to provide every student with a sound basic education.

For all hearings going forward, stakeholder testimony begins at 2pm, and public comment for registered speakers will begin at 5:30pm. Upcoming hearing dates and locations are as follows (click through the hyperlinks for the livestreams):

  • July 25: Buffalo, Western NY (North Park Community School)

  • July 30: Farmingdale, Long Island (Weldon E. Howitt Middle School)

  • August 8: Laurens, Central NY (Laurens Central School)

  • August 14: Guilderland, Capital Region (Guilderland High School)

Sharing your personal story can make a significant impact on the future for our kids and public schools. We hope you can testify, whether in person or online, to champion justice in this critical process.

Best regards,

Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari
Co-Executive Director
Alliance for Quality Education
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