The Utica small city schools have been up against a lot of budgetary concerns for years now. Two of the strikes against them are a declining tax base, and increasing needs to deal with an increasing immigrant population. Here’s an excerpt from that Feb. 2 Utica Observer-Dispatch article: Utica does qualify for two programs that [...]

It’s six weeks until most districts’ budget plans are put before for voters for consideration. I’ve submitted this week’s “Taxing Tuesday” a day early because tomorrow I’m on the road to Elmira city schools, where the small city district is considering deeper cuts to programs than last year. Yes, deeper cuts than last year, so [...]

That video was prepared by students in the Unatego schools in the southern tier. You may recall they are one of the rural, small schools fighting the budget cuts.

The real loser in all this is the students.” That quote is from Cohoes Superintendent Robert K. Libby. He was interviewed today on the statewide radio program, Capitol Pressroom. Here is the link to that program archive. Cohoes, in Albany County, is one of many districts across the state in the news because of cuts to [...]

That’s the question at least 12 school districts are asking as they prepare school budgets for the May 15 vote. Especially considering that the tax cap was highly touted as a way to provide relief for taxpayers, yet still provide an opportunity for those districts that want to exceed it to do so. You’ll find [...]

Most school districts draft their budgets this month. (I have yet to hear of a single district that is not cutting something: from clerical and food service positions to Advanced Placement programs, to closing schools, the list of cuts goes on and on. Here’s a central New York roundup. Here’s a link to cuts at the [...]

Unions across the state are telling us about the budget cuts their districts are facing. Hearing about cuts makes me think of cards. Hearing about just the three cases I dealt with yesterday makes me realize these schools have a cold deck. (For the non-card players, that means the cards are specifically rigged against them. [...]

I’m fighting with myself to not type the line that start with “We” and end with “so.” We knew the tax cap was bad for schools and communities. We knew it back on June 30. Now districts across the state are finding just how bad it is. Earlier this week I tweeted a number of [...]

Meet Kate Freeman. She used to teach preschool in Florida. Now she sells chili by the side of the road to make ends meet. Yesterday, a coalition of early childhood education providers, parents and advocacy groups released a report about the impact of budget cuts on preschool ed in our state. It also documented the [...]

Hope you all had a super weekend. I did, not because of football though. I am thrilled to see the message of students, their parents and educators getting out. Here’s a link to a Times Union commentary by Fred LeBrun. This will give you a flavor of the column: Clearly, Cuomo has an agenda here. [...]