Updated April 22, 2010

Please help us communicate with state leaders

The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Board of Education is very concerned about  Governor Paterson's state budget proposals. Board of Education members and administrators have been lobbying state legislators to help them understand how these proposals would impact us and how harmful they could be.

BH-BL residents and staff are urged to share their concerns with state leaders as well.

All the information you need to do this is below, including a sample letter and contact information for state leaders.

Key recommended lobbying points for the BH-BL Schools

The BH-BL Board of Education and administration have been following developments on the economic crisis at the state and federal levels closely. We have a number of concerns about Governor Paterson's executive budget proposals. Like the Governor, we are in favor of property tax relief, so we call upon state leaders to give us the means to limit local property taxes.

Here are several key requests that will enable us to limit the tax implications of the current crisis on BH-BL residents and students.

1. Restore aid fairly.

A. There are a number of proposals before both Congress and the state Legislature to stimulate the economy and assist local entities including public schools. However, time and again these are aimed solely at high-needs communities. Average-needs school districts are facing hardships too, particularly in communities with no manufacturing and a very limited commercial tax base like Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake. For instance, responding to cost increases and the loss of $1.6 million in aid under the Governor’s plan means that BH-BL may need to make reductions that would impact upwards of 40 staff positions (teachers, administrators and support staff) next year. Any additional aid that the Legislature is able to access needs to be shared with ALL school districts in proportion to their Deficit Reduction Assessment.

B. Do not cap total aid to schools (i.e., Foundation aid plus expense-driven aids) going forward. Capping state aid to schools ignores the fact that conditions change. Fuel costs change, enrollment changes, and special education pupils’ needs change. Inflation happens. Schools need state aid formulas that are dependable, fair and realistic.
 

2. Don’t shift costs to schools.

Don’t pass costs currently paid by other governmental entities onto the schools without a corresponding increase in state aid. We are particularly opposed to the Governor’s plan to shift 15% of the cost of preschool special education from the counties and the state onto local school districts. This is a direct contradiction to the Governor’s stated goal of reducing unfunded mandates on schools! In fact, given the number of preschool special education children in our district, this proposed change would create a NEW unfunded mandate of more than $100,000 for BH-BL in 2009-10.

We are seriously alarmed that such a shift would make it increasingly likely that schools would be called upon to assume a greater and greater share of preschool education costs in the future. Shifting a cost from a larger tax base (the state and counties) onto a small tax base (school districts) is unwise. Nor would it be based on districts’ ability to pay, and thus would be particularly burdensome for poorer districts.
 

3. Give schools a way to reduce pension costs.

We support the Governor’s proposal to create a new “Tier 5” for new public employees in the state retirement systems. This would significantly reduce long term retirement costs for both school districts, counties and the state. It is also a change that appears likely to generate much citizen support since it would bring public pension benefits more into line with what is offered in the private sector.

We urge the Governor and Legislature to consider the points listed above because the severe aid reductions supported by the Governor would result in serious harm to BH-BL children. We hope we will not be forced to reduce academic offerings, restructure summer school, reduce sports programs, and increase class sizes. However, all of these appear likely without more state aid.

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