Chad Lupinacci, the Republican, Conservative, Independence, and Working Families Party candidate for the New York State Assembly, 10th District, today
unveiled his strategy for addressing the school funding crisis.
As a trustee for the South Huntington School District since 2004, Chad has developed an intimate understanding of the complex school funding problem. Chad has witnessed firsthand how the downturn
either raise taxes or cut programs.
“The number one educational issue to address is the inequity in funding education that short changes Long Island and drives up local property taxes,” Lupinacci said. “The best way to remedy this is to recognize the high regional cost of living and doing business on Long Island in the various aid formulas. Long Island currently educates 17 percent of the State’s students but receives only12
percent of state aid.”
“Absent increases in State Aid, efforts must be taken to reduce the cost of public education. The Legislature must honor the commitment it made to mandate relief when it passed the tax levy cap.” Under Chad’s plan, the Legislature should:
- refrain from passing legislation that imposes
new unfunded mandates;
- sunset all existing mandates, re-evaluate
whether they should be continued, and require full disclosure of local cost and
tax implications on all proposed legislation; and
- stop shifting costs from the State to school
districts (e.g. pre-school special education and the cost of administering the
Regents exams).
“School districts also need to be able to find alternative sources of revenue.
However, there are innumerable restrictions placed by the State on the
ability of school boards to creatively generate revenue or reduce its costs
without impacting education. We need to provide school districts increased flexibility in this area.” To this end, Chad supports allowing pay-to-play for sports, extracurricular activities and transportation, advertising on school buses and facilities, and districts to directly fundraise and accept financial donations without the need for a intervening booster club or non-profit organization.
