(Long Island, NY) Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, & David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, offer statements following Governor Cuomo’s Executive Budget Release:
School Aid: “The Governor likes to say that money does not matter in education, but we have a massive inequality in school spending,” said Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “High spending in wealthy schools translates into marvelous educational programs and outstanding student results, but it does nothing to help students in high needs districts. For that matter the Governor’s budget would do nothing to help students in needy schools as they will be forced to make more classroom cuts. After four years, the Governor has totally failed to address the massive inequality in education between rich and poor schools. If this budget is enacted it will mean students will see cuts on top of cuts.”
“With this status quo budget, the Governor is sending a clear message to New York school children: your constitutional right to a sound basic education doesn’t matter,” said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center. “It repudiates the Campaign for Fiscal Equity remedy, and does nothing to reverse the severe cuts to essential programs and staff, especially in our highest need districts.
We look forward to working with the Legislature to expand access to high quality preschool. But this must be done alongside a significant boost in K-12 funding. It makes no sense not to do both.”
Pre-K: “Any expansion of pre-k is a step in the right direction, but after all the hype and promises Governor Cuomo’s budget proposal just does not add up, ” said Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “Calling this a universal full-day pre-k program is far from accurate, after five years we will be lucky if it covers even 20 percent of the state’s 225,000 four-year-olds.
To actually get to universal pre-k he should back it up with a recurring funding source, one that has the added benefit of making the tax system fairer and more progressive. Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed such a plan for New York City, and it would dramatically expand pre-k right away. It would take four years for Governor Cuomo to equal the investment that Mayor de Blasio wants to make this year, but even that does not add up because the Governor needs to cover the whole state, not just one city.”
“The Governor’s preschool proposal is hardly universal, and effectively puts off the day when all at-risk children can enroll in this essential program,” said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center. “The Governor should sign off on the DeBlasio plan for New York City and focus his effort on the rest of the state.”
