Assemblymembers Angelo Santabarbara (D-Rotterdam) and Phil Steck (D-Colonie) announced school funding that will help Schenectady City School District fill a projected $10.3 million budget deficit. The announcement came at Schenectady High School where they were joined by Schenectady Superintendent Larry Spring and other local officials. Schenectady City School District will receive a 7.71% increase from last year bringing their aid to $102,379,182.

“Nothing is more important than investing in our children’s education and I feel that the state has an obligation to ensure every child, regardless of where they live, get the same opportunity to succeed,” Assemblymember Santabarbara said. “That’s why I fought hard to make sure Schenectady schools received their fair share of state aid. This additional funding is intended to preserve vital educational programs and help hold the line on property taxes.”

“Students in our community will benefit from this tremendous increase in aid, but more work needs to be done,” Assemblymember Steck said. “I am very proud not only to have been a strong advocate for education but for having seen this advocacy translated into results. The Schenectady School District was in dire need, and this funding will go a long way to ensure our children get the education they deserve.”

"I want to thank Assemblymembers Phil Steck and Angelo Santabarbara for their work to achieve more funding for the City of Schenectady School District in this year's budget,” said Schenectady Superintendent Larry Spring. “However, I agree with them, that there is much more to be done to achieve true equal opportunity in education and to close our budget gap.”

Both Assemblymembers Santabarbara and Steck stated that on top of the $102,379,183 for Schenectady City Schools, the district will be receiving an additional $480,000 outside of the state aid mentioned above, and these funds can be used for any purpose the district wants. And noting that the district will still see a budget gap in spite of this extra aid, they are also advocating for additional money to ensure that the school district gets their fair share.