BILL NUMBER: S1097

SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law and the executive law, in relation to
directing that schools provide parents with information on the safe
storage of firearms

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To require schools to provide state approved information on the safe
storage of firearms.:

 
JUSTIFICATION:

On July 30th 2019, the New York State Legislature prioritized gun safety
by passing a law to require the safe storage of all firearms in house-
holds with children.

Children are specifically vulnerable to the dangers of unlocked
              

firearms. One study showed that households that lock both their firearms
and ammunition have a 75* lower risk of self-inflicted firearm' inju-
ries, as well as an 85% lower risk for unintentional firearm injuries
among children.

This legislation will keep families updated and informed of their
firearm storage responsibilities by having their child's school provide
them with information about safe storage. As a primary point of contact
for children and families, schools are well positioned to disseminate
this information. Wide distribution of safe storage information will
help keep our children safe.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

n/a

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately, provided that section one of
this act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which it shall become a law.
The changes made to education law allowed for new and expanding charter
schools in New York City:that.submit a request to be co-located in a
public school to be either granted a space in a public school or other
public building free of charge to the charter school or offered a
private facility that is at the expense of the school district. Charters
schools that are unhappy with the school district's co-location offer
are able to appeal through binding arbitration. In the event that the
appeal results in favor of the charter school, then the school district,
through the use of a formula, must pay for an alternatively privately
owned site selected by the charter school.
As a result, New York City and State have seen an astronomical hike in
funding allocations made specifically to pay for privately-owned facili-
ties for charter schools. When the law first took into effect in fiscal
year 2014-2015, New York City was forced to set aside $10.2 million in
funding to pay for privately owned facility space.  However, a look at
the fiscal year 2019-2020 executive budget shows that New York City will
have to set aside a whopping $89.4 million to pay for these private
facilities. In a matter of five years, public funding to pay for private
spaces has grown $79.2million, or 776%.
Charter schools are already notoriously known for operating like public-
ly funded private schools as it relates to the lack of transparency
around their student enrollment practices and their finance. This is yet
another example of ways charter schools abuse public dollars. This law
allows for charter schools to funnel taxpayer dollars to the hands of
landlords that own the private facilities where they operate. Landlords
then in turn can build equity and expand their private investments
thanks to guaranteed legally mandated funding allocations.
It is time to end this nefarious practice. Our public school dollars
must be directly invested in our public schools and our public school
students, not siphoned off into the private real estate industry.