To: Small City School District Legislators                                        February 27, 2006

 

Did you know that there are 57 small city school districts located in every part of the State from Long island to Niagara Falls?

 

Did you know that small city schools serve over a quarter of a million students which is 2/3 of the total of urban students outside NYC and twice as many as served by the Big 4 school districts?

 

Did you know that while the cities may be small, their school districts are large, over twice the size of the average district and that the small cities, defined as cities with ‘less than (sic) 125,000 population’, contain 1.5 million residents?

 

Did you know that small city school districts, with an average combined wealth ratio and per pupil spending which are approximately 20% below the state average, have tax rates which are 20% above the state average?

 

Did you know that over the past eight years small city districts have received state aid increases far below the average increase for all districts? If small city districts had received just average increases over that period they would have gotten $175 million, or 16.5%, more in aid in 2005-06. Each small city district would have had an additional $3 million in aid this year alone. The impact on tax rates and programming of this chronic under-funding is astounding.

 

Did you know that the Governor’s Budget for 2006-07 actually worsens this chronic under-funding despite its rhetoric about helping high need districts? The Combined Aids Run for the Governor’s 2006-07 Budget shows that small city districts are scheduled to receive increases that are 25% below increases to be received by the average district.

 

Once again, state education funding is going entirely in the wrong direction, leaving the poorest schools and children behind. Small city children and tax payers desperately need your help this year to stop the steady erosion in education resources and upward pressure on already excessive tax rates. Please begin the process this year of directing funding sufficient to provide the education small city children deserve and small city property tax payers can no longer afford.