Dear Neighbor,

We have a moral obligation to make sure New York’s children have the best education possible, especially with the challenges of the global marketplace and increasing competition.

The governor’s budget proposal, however, once again fails to provide a sound, basic education to our youth. I am fighting to implement sweeping reform in how schools get the crucial funding they need. By increasing access to a broad range of successful educational programs and reducing class sizes, I am working to make sure children in Central New York receive their fair share.

Please feel free to contact my office with any questions, comments or concerns as we work together to provide results for our children.

Sincerely,
Bill Magnarelli
Member of Assembly

...through comprehensive reform.

During his time as Assemblyman, Magnarelli has worked to increase aid to schools in the 120th Assembly District by $43 million more than the governor proposed.

Assemblyman Magnarelli is committed to providing for our children now. The Assembly’s proposal:

• Guarantees a transparent, predictable school aid formula

• Strengthens current accountability measures through enhanced milestones and thorough planning and reporting processes

• Provides capital improvement proposals to reduce class sizes, improve science labs, update libraries and support construction of new facilities

• Increases access to worthwhile programs like universal pre-K, which has been shown to have positive, long-lasting effects on students well beyond college

Assemblyman Magnarelli is committed to getting adequate funding for our children’s future, and that means fighting the governor’s cuts. The governor claims to propose additional education funding - but the truth is he barely increases operating aid for Onondaga County schools. Most schools are left scrambling, looking to fill in gaps in next year’s budgets.

• The governor once again proposes to take funding away from schools that was promised in last year’s budget - cutting services our schools are expecting reimbursement for, including special education, BOCES teacher programs, and building aid

• He also wants to gamble on our children’s education with funding based on risky video lottery terminals

The governor again proposes creating more obstacles to an affordable education. His budget proposal increases SUNY tuition, cuts TAP and underfunds community colleges throughout the state.

The Assembly’s budget proposal makes significant investments in New York’s higher education system, and rejects the most harmful parts of the governor’s budget.

The Assembly restores almost $320 million in state support to local colleges and universities. The Assembly’s budget proposal includes not only restoring full funding to community colleges throughout the state, but also:

• Rejects the governor’s tuition hike at SUNY by adding $131 million in funding

• Increases overall operating aid to SUNY to add 541 more SUNY faculty

• Provides increased funding for vital opportunity programs for students

• Restores $119 million in funding to TAP

• Provides Onondaga Community College an additional $966,750 in funding over the next two years