To the Editor:

Governor Cuomo likes to complain about the cost to educate students in NY, but the current per pupil expenditure is illegally low to guarantee all students an appropriate education under the law.

The extra $2 billion requested by the NYS Educational Conference Board to fund NYS schools this budget cycle is not an arbitrary number.

It is the amount needed to minimally fund all state and federal mandates, which school districts are legally obligated to fulfill.

According to the state’s own aid formula, Potsdam Central has been underfunded by $772,483 for the 14-15 school year alone.

This in addition to the $9.5 million that has been withheld from PCS as a result of the Gap Elimination Adjustment starting in the 2010-11 school year has created a huge deficit. Folks like to say it’s not all about the money, except that in a people driven business like education, money buys opportunity for our students.

So what can you do? History has proven that contacting state representatives works. Since 2005, the Legislature has increased the education budget significantly over what the Governor had proposed. For example, in 2014-15 the final state aid increase was 39% more than the original budget presented by Governor Cuomo.

That increase is due to parents, grandparents, teachers, and administrators contacting their legislators and asking them to stand up for our students. The rhetoric coming from the governor’s office is toxic towards public schools. It will be the responsibility of our legislators to keep that rhetoric in check and do what is right by our students.

In the very near future there will be an advocacy toolkit available to help you contact your legislators on behalf of our schools. You may follow me on Twitter at @rachelhwallace for updates and information as we move through this year’s school budget cycle.

Rachel H. Wallace

Potsdam