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In the middle of the political buzz going on, we took a closer look at Governor Paterson's budget proposal with its record $1.4 billion cut to schools. Sure enough the budget proposes that we gut our classrooms - two-thirds of classrooms across the state would be slapped with cuts over $10,000. That's going to translate into increased class sizes, lower graduation rates, and fewer learning opportunities for kids. This is outrageous at a time when Wall Street is averaging six-figure bonuses.
Without looking to Wall Street to bail out Main Street, Albany School District's $6.4 million cut is going to trickle down to a cut of over $11,880 out of each elementary classroom. In Buffalo, the $18.4 million cut will remove almost $10,200 from each class. In New York City, the total $442 million cut winds up being $10,600 per class. The list is relentless - the full impact of how much will be slashed from classrooms is here.
The legislature has to take other actions than cutting our classrooms. Education needs to be treated as the investment it is, and our elected representatives need to take a closer look at alternatives to hurting our most vulnerable populations. We have developed a full list of reasonable revenue-raising and cost savings options that could generate $12 billion here.
So while the State is engaging in talks about revenues, we'd like to make sure that the voice of Main Street is at the table. |
