As the pace of budget negotiations in Albany heightens, at least one local state representative is calling for the elimination of cuts to school aid that were designed to shift the burden of deficits from the state to local school districts.

State Sen. Patty Ritchie (R-Heuvelton) joined fellow lawmakers at the Capitol to call for an end to the “Gap Elimination Adjustment,” what a press release from her office calls “a budget gimmick that has continued to hurt schools and students since its implementation in 2010.”

“Since the GEA went into effect—five years ago, before I took office—it has cost schools across our state upwards of $8 billion dollars,” said Ritchie, whose district includes the western half of St. Lawrence County including Ogdensburg, Canton and Gouverneur.

“That’s literally thousands of dollars per student that could have been put towards providing them with new opportunities to further their education,” said Ritchie.

“Today, I’m proud to stand with my fellow lawmakers to call for putting an end to the GEA once and for all. We owe it to our state’s hardworking teachers and their students to fight back against the GEA and give them the resources they need to be successful in the classroom.”

The statement from Ritchie said she has fought on behalf of teachers, students and their families to reduce the GEA—which was designed in 2010 to help close New York’s $10 billion budget deficit—for school districts she represents by more than 78 percent; a higher ratio of GEA reduction than other areas of the state. Currently, she sponsors legislation to fully repeal the GEA.

Last week, Ritchie launched a petition calling for an end to the GEA. It can be found at www.ritchie.nysenate.gov. Individuals without access to a computer can call her Watertown office at 782-3418.