Sen. Mannion and local educators highlight $1.1 billion in funding for schools and Pre-K programs

EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Senator John Mannion visited the Park Hill School in the East Syracuse Minoa District (ESM) Wednesday afternoon, outlining the record $1.1 billion in education funding for local schools, as well as the expansion of Pre-K and early childhood learning programs.

Mannion was joined by ESM’s superintendent Dr. Donna Desiato, Park Hill’s principal Pamela Buddendeck, local educators, and students, all of whom highlighted the importance and impact this funding has on the Central New York community’s youngest members.

“I spent nearly three decades in the classroom and I know the challenges when budgets get tight. This spending plan is a policy statement that education is a priority and the old, unfair, and broken, way of approaching school funding is quickly going away,” said Mannion.

In Mannion’s district, the 50th Senate District, the new budget provides an expansion of up to 10 new full-day Pre-K programs that would serve more than 800 students.

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