Economy Slows, But Not School Spending
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- May
- 1
A slowing economy hasn’t stopped New York school districts from spending and spending, a new report shows.
The Empire Center for New York State Policy says that New York school districts will increase per-pupil spending next year by nearly 1 1/2 times the current rate of inflation—despite the housing slump and struggling economy.
You can view each school’s planned spending for the upcoming school year in the report 2008-09 School Budget Spotlight for 634 school districts in the state.
Data reviewed from the state Education Department shows that spending per-pupil will increase by an average of 5.8 percent, to a statewide average of $18,768 per student. Per-pupil tax levies will increase by an average of 4.2 percent, to a statewide average of $10,796, under proposed 2008-09 budgets, the Empire Center found.
Annual consumer price inflation is estimated at less than 4 percent.
The biggest school budget increases are in the Southern Tier, where the average per-pupil spending increase is 7.5 percent.
The Finger Lakes region has the lowest increases, with proposed per-pupil spending hikes of 5.2 percent. Only one-fifth of the districts statewide proposed spending increases at or below the inflation rate, the report says.
E. J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center, said the report shows the reason why the state needs a property-tax cap, which is being reviewed by a panel headed by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi.
The panel is slated to issue its recommendations May 22.
“While New Yorkers are tightening their belts, too many school districts are expanding their spending commitments to levels they will not be able to sustain without larger tax increases in the future,” McMahon said.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 3:15 pm by Joseph Spector.
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The education bureaucracy has long been a monstrous rip-off. Why they get away with it is a question that should have been resolved long ago. Go all the way back to Federal reports in the ‘60s and ‘80s to see the facts were made very clear then. More money equals nothing.
Secpnded.
typical responses from the grumpies
The next time 7Curses has a clue might be the first time.
The public schools are major sources of wasteful spending, and have been for decades. No amount of extra money will fix the problems. Not ever. The problems are in the communities themselves. The fact that more and more money isn’t the answer has already been proved over and again.
grumpies go jump in the lake. stop whining about rinky dink school budgets and start bellowing about out of control defense budgets, farm subsidies for the corporate farms and star wars bull and missile defense systems for the fear mongers. tired of hearing your grumpy rhetoric.
7Curses is a one-trick pony. All Republicans are bad, all tax and spend liberal Democrats are good.
Speaking for me, I have no lake. I can’t afford the taxes; but if one of my wealthy Dem pals invites me up to his summer place, I might be inclined to take a dip. I’ll take my wallet to the dock, though, and try to keep an eye on it.