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The New York state budget includes a $3 billion increase in school funding, as part of a plan to fulfill a 15-year-old court order that required the state to spend significantly more on its schools to guarantee every child’s constitutional right to an education.
In 2006, New York’s highest court ruled that children in the state were being denied their constitutional right to a “sound basic” education, and that the state had to spend billions more on its poorest schools. A plan to fulfill the court order stalled during the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009, and was not revived until this year’s budget, when it was proposed and passed by the Democratic-led Legislature. By the 2023 school year, the court order will be fulfilled.
FILE PHOTO The Capitol building in Albany. Six days after it was due, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York State’s legislative l
eaders announced a final agreement on a $212 billion dollar budget deal. It increases taxes on the wealthy and adds funds for schools, renters and small businesses including restaurants that struggled financially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senate and Assembly held a marathon session that was expected to last well into Tuesday night to approve the budget bills.
The budget increases taxes on the wealthy and corporations by $4.3 billion when fully implemented, with an increase in the personal income tax rate on New Yorkers making more than $1 million from 8.82% to 9.65%. It adds two new higher tax brackets 10.3% for those making over $5 million, and 10.9% for those earning over $25 million. Corporate franchise ta
NY State Budget Makes Historic Commitment To Funding Public Schools
arrow Students at One World Middle School at Edenwald in The Bronx on October 1, 2020 NYC Mayor s Office
The New York State budget includes an unprecedented 11% increase in aid to schools, a welcome infusion of cash some education advocates attribute to the pandemic, a political power shift in Albany that put Democrats in control of both houses in the Legislature, and the scandals that have engulfed Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“When COVID hit, it just exposed the inequalities that we all knew existed,” said Jasmine Gripper, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, a non-profit that advocates for equitable school funding across the state’s nearly 731 districts. “Education was in the news more than it had been previously, and the gap between those who have and don t have was right in front of our faces.”
NYS Budget Agreement Reached Nearly One Week After Deadline waer.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from waer.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ALBANY - Do you know where your state budget is?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature blew the April 1 deadline to have an on-time budget for this fiscal year as the sides work behind closed doors to hammer out a deal in the coming days on a $200 billion spending plan.
The stakes are high this year: New York was able to close most of its $15 billion budget gap over the next two years with an infusion of $12.6 billion in federal aid, but there are thorny issues still to decide.
In particular, Democratic lawmakers are pushing Cuomo to raise taxes on the wealthy and on Wall Street by as much as as $7 billion a year, despite the flux of federal stimulus money that will stave off cuts to programs and services.