Senator Nozzolio to Host Education Forum WITH Senate Education Chairman

Continuing his efforts to ensure fair and equitable treatment for school districts in our region, State Senator Mike Nozzolio has announced that he will be hosting a forum on education on Friday, February 3^rd  from 10-12 noon at the Ramada Lakefront Hotel in Geneva.  Senator Nozzolio will be joined by Senator John Flanagan, Chairman of the New York State Senate Committee on Education.

Senator Nozzolio and several of his Senate colleagues have also reached out to Governor Cuomo calling on him to provide a significant increase in aid to Upstate school districts in his upcoming Executive Budget proposal. To read a copy of their letter to the Governor, click here.

“Over the past year, I have listened to the input of hundreds of teachers, parents, students and school district staff throughout our region on a number of important issues impacting our local schools, including State aid for education and the need to remove unfunded mandates,” said Senator Nozzolio. “These conversations have been extremely helpful in my efforts to ensure a quality education for our young people and I am pleased that we will now have the opportunity to bring these concerns to the attention of Senator Flanagan. Senator Flanagan is a recognized education policy expert and I thank him for participating in this important discussion.”

Senator Flanagan, whose committee has jurisdiction over all legislation related to school districts and education programs, will join Senator Nozzolio to meet with local school board members, superintendents, school administrators and educators  to discuss firsthand the challenges they face going into the 2012-13 State Budget discussions.

In addition, Senator Nozzolio and several of his State Senate colleagues have sent a formal letter to Governor Cuomo urging him to reform the school funding formula to ensure a more equitable distribution of aid and develop an Executive Budget that meets the needs of our local school districts.

“Our letter asked the Governor to present us with a budget plan that recognizes both the sacrifices made by our local schools and the unique challenges they face,” said Senator Nozzolio. “Establishing fairness in the amount of State aid allocated to schools is a critically important issue that I will continue fighting to address and will be central to our discussions at the Education Forum. While my colleagues and I fought hard during last year’s budget negotiations to restore $272 million in State aid to schools, I understand that many local school districts are still facing significant challenges in meeting the growing costs of providing a quality public school education.”

Details of Senator Nozzolio’s Education Forum are as follows:

Where:   Ramada Geneva Lakefront

41 Lakefront Drive

Routes 5 & 20

Geneva, New York  14456

When:         Friday, February 3^rd, 2012

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Individuals wishing to attend this forum should contact Senator Nozzolio's office at 1-888-568-9816 no later than Monday, January 30^th to indicate their interest in attending.