Senator Parker Calls for $2.2 Billion Increase in Education Funding

FROM THE OFFICE OF STATE SENATOR KEVIN PARKER (D-Brooklyn)

Contact: Kassandra Mayhew | mayhew@nysenate.gov | 718-629-6401 | 718-629-6420 fax

For Immediate Release February 19, 2015

Senator Parker Calls for $2.2 Billion Increase in Education Funding

Brooklyn, NY – Long time education advocate State Senator Kevin Parker (SD21), alongside 83 members of the New York State Legislature and the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), has issued a call to increase public education funding by $2.2 billion to fulfill the Campaign for Fiscal Equity’s (CFE) promise of “a sound, basic education” for all New York public school students.

A report released by AQE established that New York State owes its public schools $5.9 billion as a result of the 2003 decision by the New York State Court of Appeals in favor of the CFE.

“As members of the State Legislature, we are called upon to invest in our communities as cornerstones of our growth and prosperity as a State,” stated the seven-term lawmaker and supporter of the 2007 State Education Budget and Reform Act. The Senator’s legislation signifies his commitment to reforms that close the education-funding gap between rich and poor school districts across New York State.

“What greater good can we seek other than one that improves the quality and parity of education for our children across the rural, suburban, and urban communities of every size in our great State,” concluded Senator Parker.

About Senator Kevin Parker

Senator Kevin S. Parker is intimately familiar with the needs of his ethnically diverse Brooklyn community that consists of 318,000 constituents in Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace, and Park Slope. He is the Assistant Democratic Leader for Intergovernmental Affairs, Ranking Member of the Senate Committees on Energy and Telecommunications Committee and Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, and Chair of the Democratic Task Force on New Americans.

###