Hi John,
Last week in New York City, state elected leaders listened to advocates and school administrators at a hearing to debate the way New York State funds schools. The State Senate wanted to answer the question: is the Foundation Aid formula working? Should we change it?
Outside, dozens of parents and teachers rallied. New York State still owes public schools statewide $3.8 billion under the existing formula. Parents and teachers were there to let the Senate know that New York State doesn't need to change its school funding formula — it needs to fund the Foundation Aid formula, and it needs to do it NOW.
Because every minute our state leaders spend debating ways to change the formula, school districts are struggling to make do with the lack of funding from New York State.
In Rochester, the impact of New York State's chronic underfunding of schools reached crisis proportions on Friday.
Rochester School District just handed out pink slips to over 200 educators and school staff — including paraprofessionals; support staff, bus drivers, and security guards, and 152 classroom teachers — starting January 1. In the middle of the school year.
Rochester is facing a financial crisis in the form of a $60 million budget gap. But while the District is contemplating drastic measures just to be able to pay its bills for the remainder of the school year, New York State owes the Rochester City School District $86.1 million in Foundation Aid -- exactly the kind of funding that is used to pay teachers and staff salaries.
Stand with Rochester's students. Email Governor Cuomo and your state legislators and demand that the state give Rochester the $86.1 million it's owed in Foundation Aid.
Rochester cannot bail themselves out of this situation. The only solution to saving their schools and public education is the state fully funding Foundation Aid. Like many high poverty school districts across the state, Rochester simply doesn’t have enough resources to meet the growing needs of students, so it is heavily dependent on state aid to fund local schools.
Yesterday, nearly 9,000 students in Rochester chose to walk out of their classrooms to protest. While neither students nor their teachers caused the fiscal crisis in the district, they will be the ones to pay the price. The proposed cuts will have catastrophic impact on children and their learning opportunities, creating chaos in schools. Class sizes would soar, leading to less individualized attention in a district where students are in desperate need of academic supports and interventions.
Demand your elected officials support Rochester and all our schools statewide by fully funding Foundation Aid. Email Governor Cuomo and your state legislators and tell them that the state must give Rochester the $86.1 million it's owed in Foundation Aid NOW.
In solidarity,
Jasmine Gripper
Alliance for Quality Education
