EdVANTAGE Blog

The Council followed up its Thursday news release on potential school layoffs by joining with the New York State School Boards Association to send a letter to state leaders on Friday.

The letter warns state leaders about the consequences of “flat school aid,” as the apparently agreed-upon state budget proposes.

The letter explains that school leaders have been doing their best to respond to the wishes of voters and politicians to hold down property taxes.  But if state aid is essentially flat, schools will need to make cuts to to offset scheduled increases for salaries, health insurance, utilities, and other costs.

Consequently, significant school layoffs are probable, contrary to one of the expected outcomes of federal stimulus aid for schools.

The letter cautions that planned state support may be “insufficient to comply with federal stimulus fund expectations, creating risks for the state and the schools, either in how our application is received or subsequently in how our use of the funds is reviewed.”

To help schools meet costs and hold down property taxes, we call for a year-to-year increase in state aid “consistent in magnitude with that proposed by the New York State Board of Regents.”

The Buffalo News gave the most extensive coverage to our layoff news release.

Newsday did its own survey and reported that most Long Island school districts are planning to cut teachers and other staff, noting, “The scaleback plans are far beyond anything seen since the early 1990s.”