Upstate N.Y. schools anguish over aid cuts

Nick Reisman:

Upstate school district leaders and education groups are concerned that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget sharply reduces their state aid while sparing their downstate counterparts.

"I think it's completely immoral," said Bloomfield Central School District Superintendent Michael Midey in Ontario County. "Why is it that my students take a hit? I just don't understand it."

Among school districts facing the largest cuts per pupil, 97 percent are in upstate communities while 75 percent of those facing the smallest cuts are in downstate suburban communities, according to the Alliance for a Quality Education, an Albany-based union-backed advocacy group.

At issue is a proposed $1.5 billion cut to education aid in Cuomo's 2011-12 state budget plan, dropping local funding from $20.9 billion to $19.4 billion.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 19, 2011 1:49 AM
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