The law limits school taxes to 2% or the rate of inflation - whichever is lower. It can be over ridden if a super majority of taxpayers (that 60% or more) vote to approve the budget.
This year's tax rate is ... 0.12%. In many districts that's not even enough to maintain the status quo. In Cheektowaga this limits the budget increase to just $27,000. This isn't enough for a new teacher, pay raises, or increases in other costs. This means only one thing - more cuts to teaching and support staff. The very people that make education possible.
Frontier CSD has eliminated 71 positions, has class sizes in the realm of 30 students, and can only increase the budget by $44,000. This is a joke and an insult. To parents. To students. To teachers, paraprofessionals, administrative staff, and to the communities they live in.
The school district I Work in wants to add another math teacher - one that focuses on teaching computer programming. Our current budget shortfall is between $700,000 and $1.2 million. I don't think we're getting that teacher this year, even though students are excited about the opportunity to learn computer programming. All the free resources online are great. There's just something about having someone there to help you when you are struggling.
And "Status" Cuomo is doing nothing to increase state aid or address the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which would help districts with funding and preserve programs that students need in order to be able to advance their abilities.
Willaimsville - a more wealthy district - will be able to raise their budget by $139,000. Still not enough to maintain the programs that they have built over the years.
It will be even harder on districts with high poverty levels. And rural communities as well.
Some groups want to have the tax cap set at a firm 2% rather than bouncing along randomly from year to year.
And then there are those that complain that NYS taxes are too high.
But let's look at all the tax give aways that "Status" Cuomo just gave to businesses that relocate to NYS. NYS taxpayers are going to cover ten (that's 10) years of taxes from these corporations.
I was at a teachers conference over the summer and one teacher was griping that a manufacturer in her district moved from its historic location to one of "Status" Cuomo's "tax free zones." New jobs really created? Zero. Taxes lost? Millions. Will we hear about this from Cuomo or the news in a negative way? No.
We must take a step back and ask why this tax cap was done though.
One simple answer - To show that public schools are not working and to force the districts to turn control of their schools to private, profit based charter schools. These have not been shown to work at all. They are selective in their admissions policies and can drive out low performing students without consequence.
If charter schools were so great at improving achievement, then we should not be giving them our best and our brightest - we should be giving them our lowest achieving students. The ones that need the most help. The ones that fall between the cracks.
But that is not what charter schools are about. They are about making money.
And improving education isn't what Cuomo is about. He's all about the 1% and making sure that they are taken care of and protected from the poverty that they create.
We the people demand more.
We demand:
1. Fair funding for all schools
2. Corporations and Wall Street pay their fair share of taxes
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