Valley Stream school leaders speak out against cuts

Valley Stream school officials called on their state legislators to restore funding to education at the Council of PTA’s annual Legislative Breakfast last Saturday morning.

Lawrence Trogel, president of the Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education, said school leaders disagree with Gov. David Paterson’s proposed cuts for 2010-11, and called for state aid to be kept at its current level. He said the state budget proposal would cut about $3 million from Valley Stream’s four school districts.

Hearing his message were State Sen. Dean Skelos, Assemblyman Bob Barra and Mike Morrisey, a representative for Assemblyman Thomas Alfano. Skelos painted a grim picture of the state’s budget situation, saying cuts are likely, but called for lawmakers to solve the fiscal crisis in a bi-partisan manner. “We have to look at ways to save money,” he said. “If we don’t do it now, next year we’ll be talking about a $15 billion deficit.”

District 30 Superintendent Dr. Elaine Kanas said although it has become an oft-repeated comment among educators, Long Island needs its “fair share” of school aid. She said that the region has 17 percent of the state’s students, but receives only 12 percent of the total state aid. Additionally, she said, the proposed aid cuts for next year are 7 percent higher than the rest of New York. Although Long Island’s property wealth is higher than the state average, Kanas said that household income is very close to the state average.

Kanas, like Trogel, called on the state lawmakers to restore money to schools. “As 21st Century school districts,” she said, “we need to build upon what we’ve accomplished, rather than lose ground.”

She also called on the state to repeal the Wicks Law, a construction mandate which requires districts to bid different parts of a project separately — such as plumbing, electricity and general construction. Kanas said this could save school districts $200 million. Additionally, she said the state needs to honor its promise to refund the MTA payroll tax to schools, and allow districts more flexibility in the use of its reserve funds.