Education Advocates React to Governor's Budget

When did observations about the priveleges of class get reframed as "class warfare?" No doubt there are those who would use the headline -- Educating Our Children vs. Protecting the Wealthy -- e-mailed yesterday by The Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), Citizen Action of New York (CANY), the New York Immigration Coalition, New York City Coalition for Educational Justice, Education Voters and Advocates for Children of New York, as just that.

But the headline makes a valid point. And it's an observation, not an attack. The groups characterized Governor Paterson's budget proposal as

unfair and unreasonable. The Governor’s budget cuts committed education funding by more than $2.5 billion. The Governor’s budget would deliver $698 million less in funding next school year than in the current year, but as the Governor’s own budget asserts the actual cut in committed school funding that will be used to close the state’s deficit is $2.5 billion.

[They] are calling for a balanced approach to closing the budget with options that include upwards of $5 billion in new revenue by increasing taxes on New Yorkers who earn at least $250,000 annually. The school aid cuts contained in the Governor’s proposal undermine the state’s constitutional obligation to substantially increase funding in under-funded and high needs school districts as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. The $2.5 billion proposed reduction in committed funding represents the largest proposed school aid cut in the history of the state.