Guest Essay from The Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester
Sunday, November 23, 2008
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By Billy Easton and Demond Meeks

In the Nov. 18 special legislative session, Gov. Paterson proposed taking $836 million from schools statewide in the middle of the year and $12.6 million from Rochester's schools. That proposal would have taken $9,183 from the average eighth-grade classroom in Rochester immediately. Programs implemented in Rochester with these state dollars would have to be pared back or eliminated. Rochester has invested new state dollars in smaller class sizes, prekindergarten for 3-year-olds, dropout prevention programs and summer and extended-day programs for pupils who are not meeting state standards.

After 13 years of court orders in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, Albany finally began investing more in our schools to make up for the historic underfunding; we cannot turn back the clock.

And the $27 million in cuts Paterson proposed for other Monroe County school districts simply passes the tax burden down to local homeowners. We should look at every other option, like consolidating purchasing and administrative services between districts, but we must protect classrooms from cuts.

New York's highest income tax bracket starts at $40,000 — so a police officer and a Wall Street CEO pay the same tax rate; that's bad economics. Any concept of shared sacrifice must ask our highest income-earners to contribute a little more. Several billion dollars could be raised with small tax increases on New Yorkers making more than $250,000.

Then we could have a rational conversation about how New York can take a balanced approach using both revenues and cuts to solve our budget woes.

Op-ed from The Daily News
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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By DAN CANTOR

After a week of posturing and finger-pointing in Albany, New York is still staring at a growing budget deficit and no consensus on how to fix it.

Tuesday, legislative leaders balked at passing Gov. Paterson's proposed $5.2 billion in spending reductions, which would have included deep cuts to health care and education.

They're getting criticized for their inaction, but given the governor's proposals, their restraint may have been warranted. That's because Paterson's plan asks everyone - schoolchildren, local property taxpayers, students at SUNY and CUNY, the elderly and New Yorkers with disabilities - to sacrifice.

Everyone, that is, except the wealthy New Yorkers and the Wall Street barons who got us into this mess in the first place.

Yes, prudent spending cuts in state spending are a necessity - that much is undeniable. But so far, the governor is asking working families to shoulder the entire burden of the budget deficit alone, while taking any income tax increase on New York's many millionaires off the table.

That is not acceptable. Not after the richest New Yorkers have seen billions in tax cuts that have slashed their income tax burden in half over the last 40 years. Not when asking those who can most afford to contribute a little more in taxes could easily prevent many of the most painful cuts being talked about in Albany.

Opponents of a tax on millionaires repeat the mantra that asking the wealthy to pay a modest increase in income taxes would drive them out of the state. But all the evidence and recent experience says that simply isn't so.

Op-ed From the Times Union
Saturday, November 15, 2008
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By RICHARD C. IANNUZZI

Commenting on the federal budget in the 1960s, then-U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen said, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money."

New York's projected $12.5 billion budget deficit is most definitely real money. Although the revenue side is what collapsed, some want to slash spending to erase the deficit.

But if government simply makes drastic reductions, is it meeting its ethical responsibility to the neediest in its care? Should long-term economic stability be traded for a quick means to balance the state's books? Is government really accepting its role as caretaker of the common good?

The answers are most definitely, "No!" In times of economic calamity, the state must protect vital services such as health care, emergency assistance, education and college affordability, which are lifelines for so many New Yorkers.

Draconian budget cuts would lead to thousands of layoffs, and at a time when unemployment is rising — exactly what the economy doesn't need. Virtually every dollar of state and local government spending re-enters the local economy right away. The salaries of government workers, police officers and firefighters, nurses, and, yes, teachers and other school staff, directly stimulate the economy. These middle-class New Yorkers spend money in local restaurants, retail shops and small businesses everyday.

While government is obligated to look at cost savings, there are other alternatives it should pursue first to fix New York's budget mess.

First, New York must look harder at increasing revenues — from a more progressive tax structure to more help from the federal government.

11/18/08: Standing up Against Cuts to Education
Newsradio 570, Syracuse

11/18/08: NY Cuts = $6,000+ Per Classroom: Upstate Hit Hardest
Public News Service

11/17/08: Groups urge legislators to block state aid cuts
Syracuse Post-Standard

11/17/08: Education advocates concerned about cuts
WNYT NBC 13, Albany

11/17/08: Education cut could affect CFE resolution
Politics on the Hudson, LoHud.com

11/17/08: Citizen Action to hit Albany
News 10 Now, Syracuse

Click here to read past day's news.

Sophia Jones, a parent from Albany, said, “I want my child to get a first class education and the Albany schools already need improvement. These cuts will hurt my child and every child in Albany because cuts in education mean fewer teachers, less money for textbooks, and less money classroom supplies, cut backs in after school programs. Kids will feel these cuts immediately. I cannot believe that Governor Paterson is prepared to make cuts for our kids, but will not ask the people earning hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars a year to pay a little more in taxes.”

"New York State has consistently led the nation with the worst funding gap between rich and poor schools," said Karen Scharff, Executive Director, Citizen Action of New York. “The Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit resulted in real progress in closing that gap so that every child can have a quality education. For many children in the state these cuts would widen that funding gap--a gap that results in fewer low income children and fewer children of color graduating from high school and going on to college and good jobs. It is simple elementary school math – if we want to close the racial achievement gap, the state needs to ask the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay their fair share. Regardless of school district, every child will see a drop in the quality of education if these cuts are implemented."

Click here to download the full release (pdf).

Click "read more" below to see the full release.

Use the player below to hear Karen Scharff's radio interview with the Public News Service, which can be heard on radio stations around the state today.

Paterson and Top 2 Legislators Fail to Agree on Cuts (New York Times)

No progress reported in state budget deficit talks (Newsday)

State talks yield little (Newsday)

Paterson, Senate brace for showdown (Press & Sun Bulletin, Albany)

Parents, School Districts, Education Advocates Criticize Governor Paterson’s Harsh Cuts to Schools

Describe Potential Impact of Cuts and Release Budget Analysis by Fiscal Policy Institute

What: Parents, School Superintendents, and Major Education Advocacy organizations hold press conference detailing potential impact of $840 million in mid-year school funding. Release fiscal analysis on proposed cuts.

Who: Alliance for Quality Education, Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Citizen Action of New York, Fiscal Policy Institute, New York State Association of Small Cities School Districts, Parents & Superintendents from Capital District and New York City

When: Monday, November 17th, 12:00 noon

Where: LCA Press Room, Basement, Legislative Office Building, Albany

Testimony of Karen Scharff, Executive Director, Citizen Action of New York, to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, November 12, 2008

The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the State Budget

Chairman Farrell and Members of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee: My name is Karen Schaff. I am the Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, a twenty-five year old organization with over 20,000 members throughout New York State that fights for social, racial, economic and environmental justice. Citizen Action is an active member of two large coalitions that are extremely concerned about the manner in which the Governor has addressed the state’s fiscal crisis: the “One New York: Fighting for Fairness” coalition, and the Better Choice Budget Campaign. Together these two organizations represent more than 200 advocacy, faith-based, social service groups and unions. As the chair of the board of the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), the largest coalition in the state advocating for education funding, I would also like to say a few words about the Governor’s proposed education cuts.

In summary, I urge the Assembly not to accept the Governor’s invitation to balance the budget mid-year solely through the cutting of state services to vulnerable citizens. Focusing only on funding cuts is particularly unjust when an obvious alternative is available: using funds from the state’s Tax Stabilization Fund.

Click "read more" below to read the full testimony

Click here to download the testimony (PDF).