On Feb. 3, Yonkers Assemblyman Nader Sayegh released the following statement on Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget.
Yonkers Public Schools cannot receive fair and equitable State Aid for Education, because the State continues to use dated criteria like the 2000 U.S. Census among other factors in determining aid amounts. This is why I have sponsored legislation to have the State start using the recent 2020 Census data.
Federal COVID relief funds significantly boosted State coffers the past two years, and that led to Yonkers Public Schools receiving Record State School Aid, $360 Million for the current school year. However, I warned at the time that when the Federal Assistance ended, the State’s School Aid Formula would once again disenfranchise Yonkers and it has. With high inflation increasing the cost of operating a City School System, or running the family household, the Governor’s proposed budget increases aid to Yonkers by just over 5%. However, New York State’s large city school districts are receiving double digit increases!
This change doesn’t only impact Yonkers children, it also impacts thousands of vulnerable children in disadvantaged school districts that are also situated in high wealth counties such as Nassau, Suffolk, and Rockland. So long as we have an inequitable school funding formula, we will continue to have inequitable school funding outcomes that shortchange our children. It is long past time that our State takes decisive action to correct this historic wrong.
I will soon discuss the Governor’s Budget Proposal with Administration Officials, and advocate for them to support my legislation to fix this chronic funding inequity. I also will work closely with Yonkers Schools Board of Trustees, Superintendent Quezada, and my colleagues in State Government to help support this effort.
