New York – Today leaders of the League of Education Voters of America (LEVA) and New York Ed-PAC hailed New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s budget proposal as a “victory for excellence in public education.”
“After more than a decade of litigation and intransigence from the prior administration, we are thrilled to finally have a Governor who is committed to providing every child with a top flight education,” said Beth Sullivan, Executive Director of the League of Education Voters and NY Ed-PAC.
“Under Governor Spitzer’s proposal we will finally have a school funding formula that is based on the needs of students instead of politicians. By committing to increase state education aid by $7 billion over the next three years and tying increased aid to proven strategies to improve educational outcomes, the Governor is striking the right balance between resources and accountability,” said Sullivan.
Under the Governor’s proposal, school aid would be increased by $1.4 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, increasing to an extra $7 billion by FY2010. The Governor proposed replacing New York’s opaque school funding formula with a simple transparent “Foundation Formula” that will take politics out of the equation for public school funding.
“The Governor is proposing a common-sense compact between the state and school districts – invest in proven strategies that work to improve student performance and we’ll provide the resources,” said Sullivan.
“The plan creates the right incentives for school officials to invest in smaller class sizes, universal pre-kindergarten and high quality teachers.”
NY Ed-PAC has worked for the past year to elect state legislators who support educational excellence. Today Ed-PAC leaders had a warning for State Senators tempted to block the Governor’s proposals.
“There will never be a better time to finally fix New York’s broken school funding formula and create a climate of educational excellence. Voters want change. Eliot Spitzer is proposing that change. Now it’s time for the State Senate to do its part,” said Sullivan.
New York – Today leaders of the League of Education Voters of America (LEVA) and New York Ed-PAC hailed New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s budget proposal as a “victory for excellence in public education.”
“After more than a decade of litigation and intransigence from the prior administration, we are thrilled to finally have a Governor who is committed to providing every child with a top flight education,” said Beth Sullivan, Executive Director of the League of Education Voters and NY Ed-PAC.
“Under Governor Spitzer’s proposal we will finally have a school funding formula that is based on the needs of students instead of politicians. By committing to increase state education aid by $7 billion over the next three years and tying increased aid to proven strategies to improve educational outcomes, the Governor is striking the right balance between resources and accountability,” said Sullivan.
Under the Governor’s proposal, school aid would be increased by $1.4 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, increasing to an extra $7 billion by FY2010. The Governor proposed replacing New York’s opaque school funding formula with a simple transparent “Foundation Formula” that will take politics out of the equation for public school funding.
“The Governor is proposing a common-sense compact between the state and school districts – invest in proven strategies that work to improve student performance and we’ll provide the resources,” said Sullivan.
“The plan creates the right incentives for school officials to invest in smaller class sizes, universal pre-kindergarten and high quality teachers.”
NY Ed-PAC has worked for the past year to elect state legislators who support educational excellence. Today Ed-PAC leaders had a warning for State Senators tempted to block the Governor’s proposals.
“There will never be a better time to finally fix New York’s broken school funding formula and create a climate of educational excellence. Voters want change. Eliot Spitzer is proposing that change. Now it’s time for the State Senate to do its part,” said Sullivan.