Albany finally stopped stealing from our kids and the GEA is officially history. They tried to starve our classrooms for years but they could not ignore the pressure we kept on them. Keep your eyes open because these bureaucrats will surely find another way to gut public education if we …
April 21, 2014
Final supporters
We, the undersigned citizens of Valley
Central School District, Montgomery, New York, urge you to fully restore
education aid to NYS schools by ending the GAP ELIMINATION ADJUSTMENT (GEA) in
the 2014-2015 state budget. This is not a request for new or additional funds
for education, but a call for funding already promised, but not delivered.
Currently, total state education aid remains below the level provided to NYS
school districts in 2008-09, while at the same time expectations for
educational outcomes and accountability have increased dramatically with the
adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards and the implementation of the
Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR). To say that New York schools are
being asked to do more with less is a gross understatement.
Since the GEA was enacted in 2008, Valley Central has lost $24,200,000 in
funding. That has translated into a 24.1% reduction in staff including a loss of 98
teaching positions, major program cuts including: closing a village elementary
school, reducing Kindergarten to half day, cutting Reading Recovery and
severely reducing Literacy Collaborative, eliminating art and music at
elementary level, cutting JV and Modified sports, JROTC, Elementary Library,
Elementary Chorus and Band, the third grade swim program and All District
Concert. These words cannot convey the quality of staff and program that the
students of Valley Central have lost over the tenure of the GEA. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
State spending has increased from $116B to $133B over the past five years, yet not a penny of that increased spending has gone to public schools.
Give Valley Central and all New York State schools the aid needed to educate our students, aid already promised to schools, but then taken away after the fact through the GEA. Say “NO” to further unfunded mandates and “YES” to equal educational opportunities for all students.
We call on you to act now to:
Restore $1.6 billion in educational funding for the 2014-2015 school year by immediately eliminating all remaining Gap Elimination Adjustments
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
March 15, 2014
March 13, 2014
The momentum behind this fight proves that Albany can no longer ignore the theft of our children's future. The state is gutting our classrooms to pad their own pockets and we are just getting started.
Reached 100 supporters
March 12, 2014
61 Comments
It's a sad day when NYS contemplates giving inmates an education fully funded by the taxpayers before they fully fund public education. Maybe if schools are funded properly and have programs that interest kids and keep them away from crime they wont end up in prison. Public education needs to be funded properly so programs can flourish and class room sizes can be kept at a reasonable level.
Our schools have gone from some of the best in the county to now the worst. It would be better to send my son to neighboring schools where crime and drug use is prevalant. At least there he has a chance to participate in sports and take classes in the arts. These have all been cut from VC schools.
Unfunded mandates have got to stop. if the state does not belive the program is important enough to fund then they should not mandate it. Period. The districts know their needs better than a centralized state education department full of bureaucrats. Let the educators do thier job.
Many letters have been written to representatives who so far may have been listening but not doing enough. The State needs to honor their part of the responsibiility for funding the collective bargaining and mandates.
I was afforded a wonderful education before the cuts began in Valley Central. Help Valley Central and its students to receive the funding they were promised. In this way, they'll receive a well-rounded education and will be competitive for colleges.
Fund our children's education.
Restore our children's educational experience!
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
Albany finally stopped stealing from our kids and the GEA is officially history. They tried to starve our classrooms for years but they could not ignore the pressure we kept on them. Keep your eyes open because these bureaucrats will surely find another way to gut public education if we …
April 21, 2014
Final supporters
We, the undersigned citizens of Valley
Central School District, Montgomery, New York, urge you to fully restore
education aid to NYS schools by ending the GAP ELIMINATION ADJUSTMENT (GEA) in
the 2014-2015 state budget. This is not a request for new or additional funds
for education, but a call for funding already promised, but not delivered.
Currently, total state education aid remains below the level provided to NYS
school districts in 2008-09, while at the same time expectations for
educational outcomes and accountability have increased dramatically with the
adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards and the implementation of the
Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR). To say that New York schools are
being asked to do more with less is a gross understatement.
Since the GEA was enacted in 2008, Valley Central has lost $24,200,000 in
funding. That has translated into a 24.1% reduction in staff including a loss of 98
teaching positions, major program cuts including: closing a village elementary
school, reducing Kindergarten to half day, cutting Reading Recovery and
severely reducing Literacy Collaborative, eliminating art and music at
elementary level, cutting JV and Modified sports, JROTC, Elementary Library,
Elementary Chorus and Band, the third grade swim program and All District
Concert. These words cannot convey the quality of staff and program that the
students of Valley Central have lost over the tenure of the GEA. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
State spending has increased from $116B to $133B over the past five years, yet not a penny of that increased spending has gone to public schools.
Give Valley Central and all New York State schools the aid needed to educate our students, aid already promised to schools, but then taken away after the fact through the GEA. Say “NO” to further unfunded mandates and “YES” to equal educational opportunities for all students.
We call on you to act now to:
Restore $1.6 billion in educational funding for the 2014-2015 school year by immediately eliminating all remaining Gap Elimination Adjustments
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
March 15, 2014
March 13, 2014
The momentum behind this fight proves that Albany can no longer ignore the theft of our children's future. The state is gutting our classrooms to pad their own pockets and we are just getting started.
Reached 100 supporters
March 12, 2014
61 Comments
I do not understand how there can be a State Surplus and still have the Gap Elimination Adjustment enforced. So is there no longer a gap or is the State just arbitrarily deciding that we are not entitled to the funding that was already promised?
It's a sad day when NYS contemplates giving inmates an education fully funded by the taxpayers before they fully fund public education. Maybe if schools are funded properly and have programs that interest kids and keep them away from crime they wont end up in prison. Public education needs to be funded properly so programs can flourish and class room sizes can be kept at a reasonable level.
Our schools have gone from some of the best in the county to now the worst. It would be better to send my son to neighboring schools where crime and drug use is prevalant. At least there he has a chance to participate in sports and take classes in the arts. These have all been cut from VC schools.
Unfunded mandates have got to stop. if the state does not belive the program is important enough to fund then they should not mandate it. Period. The districts know their needs better than a centralized state education department full of bureaucrats. Let the educators do thier job.
Many letters have been written to representatives who so far may have been listening but not doing enough. The State needs to honor their part of the responsibiility for funding the collective bargaining and mandates.
I was afforded a wonderful education before the cuts began in Valley Central. Help Valley Central and its students to receive the funding they were promised. In this way, they'll receive a well-rounded education and will be competitive for colleges.
Fund our children's education.
Restore our children's educational experience!
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
I do not understand how there can be a State Surplus and still have the Gap Elimination Adjustment enforced. So is there no longer a gap or is the State just arbitrarily deciding that we are not entitled to the funding that was already promised?