Letters 98
EPP May 1998 Letter on STAR v. Class Size Reduction in the Early Grades

May 15, 1998

The Hon. George E. Pataki
Governor of New York State
Executive Chamber, State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Pataki:

The Educational Priorities Panel is a coalition of 25 civic groups that have worked together since 1976 to monitor the impact of federal, state, and city funding on the quality of instruction and services to New York City’s public school students. We were shocked and dismayed by your vetoes of several worthwhile education programs. These are not "pork barrel" items, but instead are intended to sustain and improve city schools.

While we share your concern about the potential for budget shortfalls in the coming years, we do not understand why it was necessary to move up the implementation of STAR property tax exemption for senior citizen homeowners, rather than phasing it in over four years as outlined in the 1997 budget agreement. This acceleration will cost an additional $537 million in the next fiscal year and an additional $200 to $250 million in Fiscal Year 2000, contributing to the potential for structural imbalances in future state budgets.

The 1997 budget agreement represented a balance between school property tax relief and well thought out programs to improve the quality of children’s educational experiences and outcomes. This year, there was an admirable bipartisan attempt by both houses of the legislature to not only reform the budget negotiation process but to preserve this balance. Your vetoes have the effect of punishing legislative leaders for their efforts at reforming the budget process as well de-stabilizing a fragile bipartisan consensus around balancing taxpayer concerns with efforts to improve the quality of public services.

We urge you to reconsider your some of vetoes of programs designed to improve instruction, services for children, parent training, and school facilities and to restore full funding for these programs in a supplemental budget or separate appropriation bills:

Your veto of Teacher Support Aid will also negatively impact the New York City Board of Education that will now be forced to fund $72 million in salary supplements unless it wants to see even more experienced teachers securing employment in suburban areas. In addition, we urge you to address the problem of prior-year claims by significantly accelerating the time schedule for payments and increasing the amounts. These claims now approach a total of $867 million for New York City alone.

Should a supplementary budget or additional appropriation bills not be possible this legislative session, the Educational Priorities Panel urges you to re-establish some balance between STAR funding and investments in strengthening public schools. Your vetoes, should they stand, will mean that fewer schools will be repaired, student overcrowding will remain at unacceptably high levels, and there will be fewer prepared teachers with less support in our schools. These problems need to be solved, regardless of the ups and downs of the state budget negotiating process. We urge you as well as the legislative leaders of both houses to work towards solving these problems and making a positive difference in our children’s lives.

Sincerely,

Marilyn Braveman, Chairperson
Noreen Connell, Executive Director