In the past few weeks, all eyes have been on dissecting Gov. Hochul’s $233 billion Executive Budget, with several of her proposals inviting concern, including the governor’s plan to eliminate “hold harmless” Foundation Aid funding for schools.
“Hold harmless” protections were instituted to ensure no school gets less Foundation Aid than they did the year before. Overall, the elimination of this provision will provide schools with half of what was proposed by the Board of Regents last fall.
Despite fully funding the Foundation Aid formula for the first time in last year’s budget, the governor now proposes to decrease this aid for many schools, leaving 337 school districts across the state scrambling. Current estimates forecast half of all school districts will see a decrease in this aid, affecting one out of every two schools. In Saratoga County alone, six districts face cuts to their funding.
My district — which largely consists of small and medium suburban schools, but also several smaller rural school districts with falling enrollment — will be affected. Since the governor’s proposal was released, my Assembly Minority colleagues and I have been working to make the concerns of superintendents, school business officials and advocacy groups better known.
We often talk about equity, especially here in Albany, and how important it is to make things fair. But this idea from the governor seems to go against that, and I’m wondering if the governor and her staff have really thought about how it might affect equity in rural areas. In my opinion, what Gov. Hochul has proposed will unfairly disadvantage learners simply because of their place of residence.
If you send your children to a small rural school, they may not have the opportunity to take as many special course offerings, play as many sports or continue taking foreign language beyond state-required classes. This proposal is even more devastating when you consider that local districts are allowed the maximum 2% increase in the local tax levy this year, which is less than the rate of inflation.
Small districts have very little local tax base — increases would only upset the taxpayers while putting no dent in the deficit caused by the elimination of hold harmless. In addition, many districts will not be able to cover the Foundation Aid flux due to tax caps in place in these school districts.
With cuts to Foundation Aid, many schools are expecting to eliminate programs such as BOCES, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, College in High School and more.
This curriculum provides our students with valuable college and career skills that aid in their future successes. At the same time, the governor has increased her expectations for students across New York state with her new “Back to the Basics” reading plan roll-out, she is decimating Foundation Aid funding for approximately half of the schools in the state.
Schools might also face problems in their ability to serve individuals with disabilities in special education and early intervention programs. These populations require high-cost services, and more staffing is needed to adequately support special education services. Cuts in aid will mean rural areas may not be able to serve these students as well, leaving parents at a loss.
School superintendents and advocacy groups across the state are pushing for full funding under the current law of the Foundation Aid formula including for “hold harmless” provisions as well as an analysis of the formula to meet present-day needs.
The current formula was created almost two decades ago and does not reflect the costs we’ve seen rising across our state that are already short-funding our education system. Besides that, if the state budget is late as it always is, we will begin pushing up against schools that follow a different budget timeline, causing them to make cuts before they know if they are needed.
Equity in education means the quality of your educational opportunities shouldn’t depend on your address. I urge the governor to reconsider this proposal.
Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh represents the 112th Assembly District, which consists of parts of Saratoga, Schenectady and Fulton counties.
READER’S VIEW: Hochul’s proposed elimination of ‘hold harmless’ sparks battle for educational equity
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28.01.2024
In the past few weeks, all eyes have been on dissecting Gov. Hochul’s $233 billion Executive Budget, with several of her proposals inviting concern, including the governor’s plan to eliminate “hold harmless” Foundation Aid funding for schools.
“Hold harmless” protections were instituted to ensure no school gets less Foundation Aid than they did the year before. Overall, the elimination of this provision will provide schools with half of what was proposed by the Board of Regents last fall.
Despite fully funding the Foundation Aid formula for the first time in last year’s budget, the governor now proposes to decrease this aid for many schools, leaving 337 school districts across the state scrambling. Current estimates forecast half of all school districts will see a decrease in this aid, affecting one out of every two schools. In Saratoga County alone, six districts face cuts to their funding.
My district — which largely consists of small and medium suburban schools, but also several smaller rural school districts with falling........
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