8th grader at Fermi school Kelsey, with L-R-Mayor Mike Spano, Assemblymember Nader Sayegh, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, State Senator Shelley Mayer, Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, YPS Superintendent Dr. Edwin Quezada
Record $31.5 Billion in Total Statewide School Aid for School Year 2023 and Record $360.1 Million in State Aid to Yonkers Public Schools
Governor Kathy Hochul visited Yonkers on April 28 and was welcomed to the Enrico Fermi school, where she highlighted the recently passed budget, and the record amount of education aid handed out to school districts across the state, and to the Yonkers Public Schools.
Governor Hochul: “I’m so proud to have just signed a budget, supported a budget that has the highest investment in education in our state’s history… $31.5 billion to help transform the lives of our children. Every penny is worth it.”
“The question we ask ourselves every single day, ‘What is best for New Yorkers, what is best for our children, and what is best for their future?’ And I believe this transformative budget accomplishes just that.”
“Those investments include a statewide school aid increase of $2.1 billion, including a $1.5 billion increase in Foundation Aid and a $125 million increase in pre-kindergarten for four-year-old children. Additionally, the Budget provides $100 million in matching funds to provide academic and mental health supports for students and educators.
“We are very fortunate to be here. Also, in the home of our Majority Leader for the New York State Senate, a person of great courage and intellect and compassion. And that is our Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
“And I want to thank our school Superintendent, Superintendent for over seven years, making a difference every single day, Dr. Edwin Quesada, Dr. Quesada.
“I have amazing partners at the state level as well, Senator Shelley Mayer, who is the Chair of the Senate Education Committee out there fighting for every single dollar that has shown up in our budget, As well as Nader Sayegh, I want to thank him for being such a friend and ally and a real fighter for your district, a true fighter.
“But also traveling this community has just been a high honor and no matter where I go, when I hear about Westchester, there is a huge sense of pride about having the best students, the best teachers, the best schools.
“And it doesn’t matter the socioeconomic status as a community, it’s about the leadership as I mentioned. So, a school like this, that on paper is not a wealthy school district, they’re getting the same or even better results than other districts that are more affluent. This is a story that is powerful locally, but it’s also one that inspires other school districts and says if they can do it in Yonkers, with a beautifully diverse community, a lot of new Americans settling here.
They surpass all expectations and have over 90 percent graduation rate that is astounding to me. So, you’re doing your work right here. You’re doing your work and we have to do ours at the state level.
“This is also going to continue fully funding, something called Foundation Aid. You know what I’m talking about? This is a battle. This has been a Battle Royale for a long time. And it was decided that communities like Yonkers and others needed extra help. And that help was denied for far too long, so we settled the lawsuit. We put the money in the budget. We’re going to continue doing this until we make these communities whole with the Foundation Aid they deserve.
“So Superintendent, how does $360 million for your school district sound. Would you take that? All right thought you would. $360 million, that’s an increase of over $25 million. And that’s incredible, $246 million for Foundation Aid, another 5% increase over the previous year.
Hochul spoke about students trying to learn during the pandemic. “You strip them away from that nurturing environment for nearly two years, and now you’re back at home and every home was different. Some people had tutors taking care of their kids, making sure that they had everything. The password was right, they could turn on, the device. The classroom was there in their home. Other kids didn’t have broadband at home. They didn’t have the internet. They might’ve had one cell phone that the family, and I’ve heard this story, multiple children were sharing this to try and learn on a cell phone all day long. Can you imagine staring at this all day and saying that that was your education?
“I’m so excited, I’m proud of this school district. I’m proud of everyone who’s part of this whole ecosystem because your graduates, the students in K through eight, all the way up through high school, they have a chance. They have a chance not just to survive, they have an opportunity to thrive, and that is why these investments made sense. It was the right thing to do,” said Hochul.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, “How long we have been fighting this fight. When I came to the senate, I wanted to fix the education inequities. We had a governor who didn’t want to pay (foundation aid) because it was too expensive. Then we had a Governor who said we couldn’t pay because of the recession.
During COVID we knew the inequity and who was suffering more. Then Governor Hochul came in, saw the imperative and presented an amazing budget that already had the funding (foundation aid) and she committed to continuing this next year. She understands the values that matter to build the future we need to build-Thank you Governor.
Kelsey knows that she can be a senator-president -astronaut anything you want to be—that’s what education has done-stop limiting people –
An 8th Grade student at Fermi, Kelsey, introduced the Governor and made an impression on those in attendance. “Kelsey knows that she can be a senator, or president or an astronaut. You can be anything you want to be. That’s what education has done, it has stopped limiting people,” said Stewart-Cousins.
