Suffolk school forum gives lawmakers chance to decry Gov. Hochul's proposed cuts
Julianna Agueci, a Longwood High School senior and a member of the Legislative Committee, listens to the presentations at the 20th Annual Longwood Regional Legislative Breakfast on Friday. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Lawmakers from Suffolk County told school officials Saturday they would push back on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal that would reduce aid to dozens of Long Island districts.
Members of the State Senate and Assembly told an audience of Suffolk County public school leaders at Longwood Middle School that they did not support cuts to foundation aid, the name given to a formula used to distribute state aid.
They also disavowed the governor’s call to end the “hold harmless” provision in school aid, which has allowed school districts to count on receiving as much as state aid as the previous year.
The lawmakers answered questions in front of more than 300 educators and students representing most of Suffolk County’s school districts at the 20th annual Regional Legislative Workshop hosted by Longwood Central School District, Eastern Suffolk BOCES and Suffolk Region PTA.
The event provided a forum for public school leaders to advocate directly to local lawmakers on pressing issues.
On Saturday, topics ranged from the challenges of adding zero-emission school buses, to increasing instructional salary for career and technical education training and long-term plans to sustain state aid.
The most pressing issue centered on foundation aid, as school districts face uncertainty over how much state aid they can expect to receive while planning 2024-25 budgets. On Thursday, the state Education Department asked the legislature for a 3- to-5-year-phase-in of the governor’s budget proposal.
The governor in her budget address last month said the “massive increases” in state aid seen the past two years were unstainable.
“No one could have expected the extraordinary jumps in aid to recur annually,” she said.
New York State spends more per pupil — $26,571 annually — than any other state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The governor’s budget proposal, centered on a theme of making New York State more affordable, includes nearly $35 billion in aid to schools statewide.
Charles Dedrick, executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, tried to counter some of the governor’s arguments, such as that schools have built up reserves and have shrinking enrollments. He said school districts are tasked with doing more for students, such as mental health initiatives, than ever before and that districts should be allowed to keep higher reserves, similar to municipalities.
He said while he agrees that recent increases were unsustainable, the current proposal amounts to “pulling the rug out from everybody.”
State Sen. Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) said there’s bipartisan opposition to the governor’s proposal.
“This will not happen,” he said. “Write it down in ink and magic marker.”
Assemb. Fred W. Thiele Jr. (D-Sag Harbor) agreed, saying: “The legislature is not going to accept the governor’s proposal.”
The legislators also unanimously agreed the state’s push to transition districts to an electric fleet of school buses was happening too quickly. A state mandate requires new school buses sold in New York to be zero-emission by 2027 and all school buses to be zero-emission by 2035.
Assemb. Doug Smith (R-Holbrook) called the 2027 date “unrealistic” and added that he hopes to extend that to 2040.
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
