As the threat of severe cuts looms in the governor’s budget proposal, we urgently need to come together to influence the fate of statewide school funding.

This week, New York legislative leaders – Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie, and their colleagues – are fine-tuning the State Senate and Assembly budget proposals (referred to as the “one house” budget). These proposals are immensely important as they represent the beginning of the negotiations for what makes it through to the final enacted budget.

Let’s make sure our concerns for our students are heard and prioritized! When school budgets are cut because the state is cutting funding to schools, students stand to lose music, art, sports, or some of their favorite teachers. When school aid cuts are made, after school enrichment programs, tutoring, and morning intramurals are the first to be cut. Social workers and guidance teachers are laid off and whoever is left has more students to see. In these final weeks of session, our collective action, your email or phone call to our elected officials, can help them see how important school funding is to our communities.

Email our legislative leaders and representatives to tell them to prioritize students in their one house budgets. They must reject the governor’s proposal and fully fund Foundation Aid, restoring funding to $927 million, providing $1 million to update its formula, and allocating $2 billion to schools to avoid gaps in service with the imminent expiration of COVID-era federal funds. All of this can and should be achieved by raising taxes on the state’s most wealthy people and corporations, instead of unfairly burdening working-class families – as the current budget plans to do.