97 percent of school budgets pass statewide
Voters in more than 97 percent of school districts approved their budgets yesterday, a record number, according to counts from the state School Boards Association and New York State United Teachers.
If that figure holds up, it would top the old record of 95 percent set two years ago.
“Even in tough economic times, we see that voters recognize the importance of supporting their local schools,’’ said NYSUT President Richard iannuzzi. The average passage rate since 1969 has been 83 percent, according to the school boards association.
Iannuzzi said a big factor was the inclusion of $1.25 billion in federal stimulus money in state aid to local schools, which eliminated cuts the state had planned to make.
In addition, proopsed tax increases were on average less than 2 percent.
Districts where the budget was defeated can hold a second vote on June 16. if it is defeated again, a continegency budget is put in place. That limits tax increases to 4 percent.
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These school budget votes should happen during regular election in November. What happens here no one knows that an election is going on so the only people who vote are the families with kids in the schools. Does any one know what the percentage of people voted in this election. I am sure it was very low.
The budgets in our area were all basically contigency budgets. That’s why you get such a high percentage of passing – it doesn’t matter if the budget gets voted down, because the school just adopts the same budget. No reason to vote anymore, at least up here.
I disagree with the person who said only people with children in the schools vote on the school budget. I watched as many senior citizens lined up to vote for the school budget today in Mahopac. Bob Reidy and the school board should be ashamed of themselves trying to force a 3.9% tax increase on us. Will the school board and Mr. Reidy just take a look at the administrative cost in the district office? It pains me to vote no on the budget but I felt the need to send a message. Now Mr. Reidy will come back and threaten as he always does that he will cut programs for the students and try to force us to support the next budget. I will vote no again unless I see administration jobs being cut or consolidated. I can not afford these increases.
Congratulations, Mahopac. Too bad the rest of the area doesn’t yet understand that the middle class homeowner who carries this country is being crushed, especially by school taxes. Everyone knows there’s a mortgage crisis, yet few realize what often is the straw that breaks the back of the camel is this enormous extra outrageous burden. Why aren’t these people swamping the polls? It defies all rules of simple logic.
NY State should put a sheep in the upper left corner of the state flag to represent the taxpayer, and a plate of broiled lamb chops in the upper right- hand corner to represent their fate.
In my district the teachers and administration received raises of 7+% while cutting back on supplies and misc. expenses to keep the raise low. In fact the budget was about 2.78% before bond interest.
What drives me nuts is who the heck is getting 7+% raises in this economy? Worse housing prices are not growing so the increase tax is based on bad value.
To show real faith the union should have cut raises or frozen salaries entirely for the year. Then so many districts could have had marginal increases if any at all. But nope, can’t get rid of raises. Lets cut paper and chalk instead.
There are never any solutions. Just band aids…
SR, this speaks clearly to the fact that the school lobby and union, while haranguing the public with constant references to “our children” are interested only in continuing to feather their own nests. They are abetted in this fraud by legislators who are funded with money and promotional phone banks from these very unions, and the “educators” continually count on the ignorance of the ex-students, now voters, whom they have successfully ill-educated to the point that they can’t figure out what’s really happening and persist in voting against their own palpable better interest.
If you vote for a school budget as bloated as the ones I’ve seen recently, you have no right to complain about property taxes.
Sent too early.
It’s not like a state budget or any other budget where elected representatives approve it. School budgets are approved by we the people. We the people allow ourselves to be taxed out of our homes because we can’t control spending on schools and we give in to every single special interest.