Members of NYSUT local unions are at the table as the state Senate convenes a series of roundtable discussions in October and November on Foundation Aid school funding. The events will culminate in a public hearing Dec. 3 in New York City.
The Senate’s Education and Budget and Revenue committees, chaired by Sen. Shelley Mayer, D–Yonkers, and Sen. Brian Benjamin, D–Manhattan, respectively, are holding joint discussions.
The roundtables started Oct. 16 in the Hudson Valley. They continue Oct. 18 in Buffalo, Oct. 29 in Syracuse; Nov. 13 on Long Island and Nov. 19 in Queens.
NYSUT has maintained that the 2007 Foundation Aid formula was a significant policy achievement, but that it has not been fully funded since the recession of 2009.
“The problem is the lack of funding,” said NYSUT President Andy Pallotta. “If fully funded, the Foundation Aid formula would work, but it has never been close to fully funded.”