ALBANY, NY May 23, 2011 - What if parents of public school students in New York state decided to hold a bake sale to make up for the loss of state aid this year? According to a radio ad that debuted today across the state, they would have to bake more than a billion cupcakes!
"1.3 billion, to be exact," says a fictional parent in the satirical ad. "Because that's how many dollars Albany's cut from education, this year alone."
The 60-second ad, paid for by New York State United Teachers, then exposes the proposed property tax cap passed by the state Senate earlier this year as a "gimmick that takes control away from the local communities and provides no real (tax) relief."
"There are some in Albany and on Wall Street who are touting a 'hard' cap as a panacea for overburdened taxpayers, and that's simply not the case," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. "The cap some have embraced will hurt students, their schools and entire communities."
NYSUT Executive Vice President Andrew Pallotta added: "Lawmakers should listen to their constituents and not to their rich friends. Last week, voters spoke loudly and clearly when they approved nearly 94 percent of the local school budgets across New York. Clearly, local control - which would be lost under tax caps - is working. New Yorkers want real tax relief, not political gimmicks."
The $213,000 ad campaign will run through the end of May. To hear the ad, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBH6-IdM9m8.
NYSUT, the state's largest union, represents more than 600,000 teachers, school-related professionals, academic and professional faculty in higher education, professionals in education and health care and retirees. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
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