Nolan, Parker and 80 Lawmakers Sign Joint Letter to Gov. Cuomo Asking to Support New York State’s Children and Their Public Schools
ALBANY (Jan. 20, 2015) – The day before Governor Andrew Cuomo releases his budget and delivers his State of the State, Assembly Member Catherine Nolan, Chair of the New York State Assembly Education Committee, and Senator Kevin Parker released a letter from 80 legislators in both houses calling on the Governor to increase education funding by $2.2 billion to “over the cuts of prior years and prepare our students for the global economy.”
The letter also backed the Board of Regents recommendation for $250 million for full-day pre-K throughout the state. Currently, outside New York City only 4 percent of children have access to state-supported full-day pre-K.
“As Chair of the Assembly Education Committee I know our Majority and Speaker Silver have always supported adequate funding for our schools, as the parent of a public school student I know our children need more state funding to keep the promise of public schools as a fair opportunity for all children to succeed” said Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan. “The promise of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity must be kept, our state’s constitution demands it.”
“As members of the Senate, we are called upon to invest in community and economic development as corner stones of our growth and prosperity,” said Senator Kevin Parker. “What greater currency can we seek other than one that improves the quality and parity of education for our children across the rural, suburban, ex-urban and urban communities of every size in our state.”
“We call on the Governor to fully fund public schools by fulfilling the commitment made in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity settlement,” said Bill Lipton, Director of the Working Families Party. “It’s time to close the shameful $8,700 per student funding gap between our richest and our poorest school districts.”
“We are pleased that so many lawmakers in Albany are united behind education,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “This an urgent need to rectify the staggering inequities between our wealthy and poor school districts which is now at an all-time high. It’s time that Gov. Cuomo steps up and supports our public schools and to put a stop to his anti-public education rhetoric. It’s vital for the children of this state.”
“Investing more in public education – and doing so fairly and equitably – must be a high priority this legislative session,” said New York State United Teachers Executive Vice President Andrew Pallotta. “New York’s public education system is one of the strongest and most successful in the nation, and it can be even stronger if we make smart investments in the future of our state’s children. Speaker Silver, Assembly woman Nolan, Senator Parker and legislators from both houses standing with us today understand that. They know the right direction includes listening to the concerns of students, parents and educators, not the phony ‘reforms’ pushed by billionaires.”
“Citizen Action is proud to stand with Assembly Member Nolan, Senator Parker, and other champions of public education in the legislature to demand education policies that promote equity,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “With the most unequal schools in the nation, we can’t allow New York State to miss this opportunity to make sure all students have a chance at success.”
The letter comes only a week after AQE’s latest report, Record-Setting Inequality: New York State’s Opportunity Gap is Wider Than Ever, which documents that under Governor Cuomo the funding gap between rich and poor districts is the largest it has ever been. The report shows that Gov. Cuomo’s policies have widened the disparities between rich and poor schools resulting in cuts to art, music, sports, after school programs, career and technical education and more.
The letter’s release also comes one day before the Small Cities School Districts lawsuit against New York State goes to trial. The lawsuit challenges the state for its constitutional violations in underfunding eight city school districts.
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