SENATE BUDGET ENDS GEA CUTS FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS

Senate Blazed Path to Eliminate Aid-Cutting Budget Hoax; Includes Record Investment in Aid to Local Schools

State Senator Patty Ritchie today announced that public schools will see an end to the aid-cutting hoax known as the “Gap Elimination Adjustment” or GEA, under a Senate budget plan that provides record funding for New York’s public schools.

Eliminating the GEA—a budget gimmick enacted before Senator Ritchie took office—has been among the Senator’s top education priorities, and last year, over 90 percent of the GEA was restored to schools in Senator Ritchie’s district.

Overall, the senate’s education funding plan includes $750 million more than proposed by the Governor—a 7.15 percent increase from the current year—and includes $880 million more in “Foundation Aid.”

“Ever since I joined the Senate, I have been calling for repeal of the GEA which has robbed our schools and classrooms of critically needed dollars to help educate our children and prepare them for the challenges of the future,” Senator Ritchie said. “Finally, the end of the GEA is in sight, and not a moment too soon, as our schools continue to struggle to balance budgets and provide the quality education our children deserve.”

The senate budget also rejects proposed cuts to the STAR property tax program, which helps lower property tax bills for 85,000 homeowners in Jefferson, Oswego and St. Lawrence Counties, saving them more than $50 million a year.

A list of local schools that will feel the biggest impact from elimination of the GEA follows: