Auburn High School students rally in Albany for increase in education funding

Auburn, NY — Today, over 80 students from Auburn High School took the trip to Albany to fight for an increase in education funding.

Right now, the district received way below the state average.

The Auburn School District received around $18,000 per student, and the New York State average is $24,000 per student.

Students, faculty, and staff traveled to the Albany State Capitol on Tuesday to fight for more funding.

The school board says the funding formula doesn't favor small city districts, so they've been getting less money from the state.

"The gap has widened so significantly, that we get about 75 cents on the dollar compared to the state average," said Ian Phillips, Auburn School District board member.

Lucy Noble was in Albany today, and spoke on the Capitol steps.

Noble is a junior at Auburn High School, and she's very involved with extracurricular activities.

"I feel like without this funding, all of these things could be put at risk, and I would not want that to happen for my classmates, or any student that comes to school after me," said Noble.

Phillips says the lack of funding has affected them significantly over the past decade.

"We've had to cut 1 in 5 of our instructional staff. We've reduced our art and music, and we even closed a school building," said Phillips.

Phillips says cutting activities could hurt a student's love of learning.

He also says special needs students aren't getting the attention they deserve, in addition to a lack of mental health counseling.

"It's important for everyone to get the same level of education too, so other school districts who are getting these funds, and we aren't. We're missing out on things," said Noble.