Rally at Senator Jack Martin's Office
151 Herricks Road
Garden City Park, NY 11040
Friday, March 21, 2014
3:30-5pm
Dear Colleagues,
This Friday, at several locations around the state, NYSUT activists and our allies in education are going to bring home the message that the budget proposals being negotiated in Albany are unacceptable.
As we enter the final two weeks of the state's budget process, the worst possible proposal is the Senate resolution. It includes many unacceptable positions that short change public schools, fund and empower charter and private schools at the expense of public schools, and exacerbate the negative effects of the tax cap.
The Senate resolution which passed, before dawn on Fri., March 14 would:
- Require a district to stay below the 1.46 percent tax cap. The Senate would also make permanent the existing tax cap law that is set to sunset in 2016.
- Provide $161 million less in funding for K-12 school aid than the Assembly budget.
- The budget provides MORE increased aid to private and charter schools than to the public schools of this state when direct cash and new tax credits are figured in
- Set aside $800 million to pay for the tax freeze on property taxes (where the cap is maintained); this $800 million is thus not part of any increased aid for public schools
- The budget provides tax credits for donations to private schools as part of scholarships for students
- Charter schools would receive state construction funds, rent-free space in public schools, funding for pre-K that must match what the local public school district spends, forbid rent being charged to them when co-locating in public schools and provide for veto power over any public school district trying to reclaim co-location space.
- SUNY and CUNY end up with shortage in "maintenance of effort" aid to cover increased costs to the tune of about 140 million
- It reduces the estate tax rates from 16% to 10% and raises the threshold to 5 million net worth up from 1 milliion to be covered by the tax. Estates up to 5 million dollars would pay no estate tax.
- Does not address testing, APR and common core issue
Now is the time to make a difference, not a week from now, not next month. Please join me and our allies in the education community to rally this Friday. Bring a friend, neighbor, colleague or family member. Our students, schools and profession are at stake. We will march outside of the Senator's office holding our HTA banner at 3:30pm and ending about 5pm.
See you on Friday in Garden City Park!
In Solidarity,
Nidya Degliomini
President
Herricks Teachers' Association