Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to cut education funding as coronavirus disrupts the lives and education of New York’s children. A five percent cut would mean schools would lose about $1.3 billion. There would be fewer teachers, fewer social workers, music and art teachers, cuts to pre-K programs, cuts to kindergarten programs etc.
A five percent cut means New York City will have to make do with more than half a billion ($563 million) less total aid and schools will receive flat funding which is $0 of an increase. The cost of school districts rises every year due to districts providing expensive healthcare and health insurance for their employees and increasing the salaries of teachers. If the cost rises about five percent and they have no increase in aid, schools will feel like they are receiving a five percent cut. For schools in NYC at the state level, they will feel like they have a half of a billion dollars left than what they usually have.
The governor wants to prioritize the interests of the wealthy over the needs of NY students and children. New York is one of the wealthiest states. We have more billionaires in New York than any other place on the planet. The combined wealth of New York is 112 billionaires and $525 billion. Our state budget is $175 billion. Even if the stock market is down and there is a financial crisis, NY billionaires still have a load of wealth.
Alliance for Quality Education Executive Director Jasmine Gripper says, “We need to actually ask billionaires to pay a little bit more to help get us through this crisis to fund vital programs like art schools. The governor is choosing to balance the budget off the backs of children instead of asking the ultra-wealthy to pay a little bit more.”
The five percent cut does not impact students who do not attend public schools. Most wealthy parents do not send their kids to public schools. They go to private institutions where they pay large amounts of tuition for their children to have a great education. Gripper says, “Our public schools are a benefit to all of our community, and they make New York stronger as a whole and we as a state need to prioritize investing in our public schools so that all children have access to a quality education.”
A solution is to tax the wealthy and for NY to raise taxes on billionaires and millionaires. The governor can initiate an emergency wealth tax for the rich. A slight income tax increase can yield approximately $4 billion, funding that is crucial for our schools to deal with the trauma that our communities and children are facing currently and upon their return to school. For the amount that each school district would lose with a five percent cut to education funding visit https://www.aqeny.org/2020/03/30/analysis-what-does-a-5-education-cut-mean/?