April 1, 2015
ALBANY, NY – State Senator Cathy Young has issued the following statement:
“Overall, my schools will receive a record investment of $582,788,622 in education aid, which is an increase of more than $32 million, or 5.9 percent, over last year. Children in my district will receive the high-quality, first class educational opportunities that they need to succeed,” Senator Young said.
Senator Young said that the restoration of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) coupled with more Foundation Aid drove more funds into her school districts.
“On education reform, we have soundly rejected the Governor’s unfair teacher evaluation proposals. We have put the matter into the hands of professionals at the State Education Department (SED) with instructions that they work toward reducing testing. SED will be charged with taking input from parents and teachers, and making recommendations to the Board of Regents for final approval, consistent with current law,” she said.
“We stopped the Governor’s linkage of distributing school aid to districts’ submission of teacher evaluations. The funds will go out to schools as usual. Schools will be responsible for submitting information to SED by November 1st,” said Senator Young.
“We believe in high standards for our students and teachers so our children receive the best education possible. The overwhelming majority of our teachers are doing outstanding jobs. For schools that are struggling to perform, our intention is to get them the help they need to turn things around,” said Senator Young.
