Historic Victory for New York State School Children

New York – NY EdPAC applauds the State Education Budget, which is an historic victory – as it is a historic funding increase – for public school kids in New York State.

Schools that the legislature has been shortchanging for decades will finally get the resources they need to allow them to hire more teachers, create better curricula, provide after school programs, purchase books and equipment and much more.

On April 1, 2007, the New York State Legislature made an unprecedented increase in state aid for public schools, finally settling the protracted 14-year Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. The Legislature agreed to increase education aid by $1.76 billion dollars for FY2007-2008. For New York City, the increase will be $715 million in new aid. The other four big cities will see large increases as well: Rochester will receive $34 million, Buffalo $41 million, Syracuse $20 million and Yonkers $25 million.

The budget doesn’t merely throw money at the schools. Accountability – something that NY EdPAC has fought for from the beginning – is part of the funding increase package. All school districts will benefit from this funding increase, but the greatest increase in funding will be directed to the districts with the greatest needs. The funding will let each district address its own most pressing concerns, such as smaller class sizes, full day pre-kindergarten, and teacher quality, while holding all districts responsible for results.

The historic funding commitment coupled with a system of accountability will be a significant leap towards achieving our goal of creating excellence in education for all New York State public school students.