Although community voters have passed the local school budget the past several years, the Plainedge Federation of Teachers is leaving nothing to chance.

On May 17, educators will be participating in a communitywide Budget Awareness Day at a district elementary school. There will be food, games, fund-raisers for the Plainedge FT scholarship and other scholarships, and student groups will entertain residents.

"This is an event that brings the community together to raise awareness about voting for the budget and why it is important to support our children's education," said Laura Pokorny, president of the Plainedge FT.

That's the message statewide as union activists urge voters to head to the polls May 20.

The Nassau County Plainedge community knows the pain when budgets fail. Three years ago students lost their entire sports program when the district was put on a contingency spending plan.

"Parents raised more than a half-million dollars to restore sports and we were very involved in that," Pokorny said. "Since then, we've been working with a lot of concerned residents to pass the budget on the first go-round. We just can't be complacent about it."

The local maintains a database of the last three years of Plainedge graduates. "We send a letter to our graduates explaining about giving back to the school district that made them who they are now, and making sure they support their community by continuing to be involved and vote," Pokorny said. "We also include information about absentee ballots for those away at college."

In preparation for the budget vote, the local is using phone banks and reaching out to in-service and retired NYSUT member-residents.

"Our biggest fear is people getting complacent and those 'yes' voters saying, 'Don't worry, somebody else will get out and vote,'" Pokorny said.

NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi agrees.

"The message we need to get out and keep repeating is, 'your vote matters,'" Iannuzzi said. "NYSUT members — more than 600,000 strong — represent a tremendous voting bloc. We need to take that power to the polls and support our public schools," he said.

The statewide union is launching a $1 million television and print ad campaign urging New Yorkers to support students and their local schools. The union is also offering postcards on its Web site, www.nysut.org.

With schools set to receive a $1.745 billion increase in state education aid, NYSUT's Research and Educational Services Department reports that statewide, districts are proposing average property tax increases of 3.26 percent. While that bodes well for budget passage rates, NYSUT is hearing scattered reports of potential layoffs.

"With the economy still struggling, most districts seem to be taking a cautious approach to their budget planning," said NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin. Eight Suffolk County districts that are proposing slim tax increases (including Longwood and Riverhead) have already notified staff of potential layoffs.

Get out the vote

Campaigns like the one in Plainedge are being replicated across the state as NYSUT members ramp up their get-out-the-vote efforts. In Livingston County, the Mount Morris Teachers Association is encouraging the community to get involved through a Meet-the-Candidates Night. "We want to promote and encourage the involvement of our village and school community in the decision-making process" of school board elections, said Judi Swan of the local's public relations committee.

Rockland County's Nyack TA is working on building community coalitions and is endorsing two candidates, including a retired union member, for school board.

For Plainedge's Pokorny, the message is the same. "We just have to keep raising that consciousness that you must be active. We have to get people out to the polls."

— Clarisse Butler Banks