Libertarian Party of New York Advises Rejection of Proposed School Budget Increases Ahead of Tuesday’s Vote

Budget plans would raise New York State’s average per-pupil expenditure, already the highest in the country at nearly $25,000, by more than 4 percent.

ALBANY, NY, UNITED STATES, May 14, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- School districts across New York State are set to hold their annual budget vote on Tuesday, May 18th. All districts that are subject to public vote have submitted to the voters proposed budgets for the 2021-2022 school year, which voters must decide whether or not to adopt. Residents in New York City, Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and Yonkers do not vote on school budgets, as those cities’ charters reserve school budget allocation and approval to their respective City Councils. In most districts, school board elections are also being held, many of them non-partisan.

According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, the collective budget plans would raise New York State’s average per-pupil expenditure, already the highest in the country at nearly $25,000, by more than 4 percent. These additional expenditures come despite declining public school enrollment, which are expected to fall more than 1.5% statewide this fall.

The Libertarian Party of New York chair, Cody Anderson, urged voters to remain vigilant as they head to the polls.

“It is outrageous that school districts and their union masters suggest increasing spending by over four percent for an underperforming system whose enrollment continues to decrease,” Anderson stated. “The drain of more than a million residents from New York during the past decade is in large part due to continued yearly increases in school taxes, resulting in the outrageous per-student expenditures, yet mediocre educational outcomes.”

“Given the equally outsize increases in federal funding directly to school districts, and the past year of children learning at home, and not in the schools, it is irresponsible for local boards to continue raising taxes and driving residents away, and for teachers’ unions to engage in an opportunistic money grab. We urge taxpayers statewide to send a strong message to their school boards by voting NO on their school budgets.”

For more information about the Libertarian Party of New York, please visit lpny.org. You may also visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/LPNYOfficial, Twitter @LPNYOfficial, or Instagram @LPNYOfficial.

Anthony D’Orazio
Libertarian Party of New York
+1 866-336-3120
tdorazio@lpny.org
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