Democrat Lawmaker Decries School Cuts In Governor's New State Budget

BEDFORD, NY — A New York lawmaker is denouncing the New York budget proposed by fellow Democrat, Gov. Kathy Hochul, for slashing funding for schools.

New York State Senator Pete Harckham released a statement strongly criticizing Governor Kathy Hochul for making cuts in state aid to several school districts in Senate District 40, even as the proposed state budget grew to $233 billion, a 4.3 percent increase over last year’s adopted state budget.

"Educating our students is the key to New York’s economic future and requires that we make these important investments in our schools, year after year," Harckham said. "The State Legislature worked to fully fund our public schools, and in 2023 we finally achieved this goal. Decreasing those investments is a step backwards and an insult to students, educators and taxpayers."

Those cuts will be felt locally and across the state, the lawmaker said. Overall, six school districts represented by Harckham, Bedford, Katonah-Lewisboro, Croton-Harmon, Chappaqua, North Salem and Yorktown will receive less school aid in the budget that the governor has proposed than from the previous budget.

Harckham said the battle to restore the school budget cuts isn't over.

"We will fight to restore full funding to all school districts statewide," the lawmaker said. "The Covid-19 pandemic set many of our students back in their learning; now is not the time to have them face state aid cuts that would impact staffing and programming."

Nine out of the 19 school districts in Harckham's district also face funding decreases in Foundation Aid in the proposed budget.

The biggest loser from SD40 in Hochul’s proposed budget is the Bedford Central School District, which enrolls 3,500 students; it would lose 12 percent of its state aid, according to the legislator.

"Our investments in the public schools are a promise to our students that we will help them achieve their goals and prepare them for a lifetime of learning," Harckham said. "This year, school districts in New York should not receive less state funding while other districts nearby are seeing increases. That unfair budget modeling is a thing of the past."