Senator Mayer says Foundation Aid is a Top Priority
Originally published in
PoliticoPro
State Sen. Shelley Mayer (D-Yonkers), incoming education committee chair, said her top priority next session is getting more money into school budgets, primarily through the Foundation Aid formula that Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently cast aside as one of the “ghosts of the past."
“I believe the schools are owed under Foundation Aid and the CFE lawsuit significantly more, and we have to figure out a way to get them back to what they are owed,” Mayer told Susan Arbetter on WCNY’s Capitol Pressroom Thursday.
She said the Foundation Aid formula also needs to be “modernized” to reflect the increases in specific demographics of the formula that drive money, including students living in poverty, special education students and English language learners. She said the Democratic conference has consistently supported those actions, which this year have also been called for by educational leaders.