New York state aid to schools will be reduced 5% under the budget proposal for 2010-11!

On January 19th, 2010, New York State Governor David Patterson unveiled his budget proposal for 2010-11, and our future here in NY, looks very bleak right now.... 

Searching for new sources of tax revenues during the current fiscal crisis, the governor proposed nearly $1 billion in new or increased taxes and fees, as well as cutting aid to schools. This last item would be the largest cut to school aid in more than 2 decades!

The proposed $134 billion budget calls for a 5% reduction in state school aid! If proposal is accepted, 589 school districts in New York State would lose more than $1.1 billion in aid, while 87 districts would see aid increases totaling $66.5 million. 

Many school districts in New York State in general, and in Westchester and Putnam counties in particular, will have to find creative ways of cutting expenses in order to avoid sizable tax increases. Growing class sizes, cutting programs and extra-curricular activities, reducing staff are just few examples of what might or will happen! And that does not even guarantee that we will not see our property taxes increasing significantly!

On The Journal News website you can search the database that shows amount of federal stimulus money each school district in New York is expected to receive, along with proposed budget cuts.

There will be a lot of discussions about this in the coming months. Be sure to check your school district website for more details, and visit the board finance committee meetings. It is better to stay informed, than be the last one to know about decisions already made!

Below are links to the proposed budget, as well as few articles discussing it. 

NY State Division of Budget: 2010-2011 Executive Budget

Jan 19 2010. New York Times: "Paterson Seeks Huge Cuts and $1 Billion in Taxes and Fees"

Jan 25 2010. New York State School Board Associaton: "Paterson calls for 5 percent school aid cut"

Jan 25 2010. The Journal News "Early school budget picture not pretty"

New York State United Teachers: "State Budget: Governor's proposal would hurt kids, taxpayers"