Tedisco Calls for New “Migrant Student Transfer Reimbursement Act”

Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C-44th Saratoga Springs) today announced new legislation he is sponsoring to ease the financial burden on local school districts that are suddenly faced with the unanticipated cost of providing an education to migrant children who are transported to Upstate communities by New York City and the federal government without warning.  

Tedisco’s bill, the “Migrant Student Transfer Reimbursement Act” (S.7751) would reimburse local school districts for any costs associated with taking in migrant students including per-pupil expenses and for hiring English as a Second Language teachers, social workers and bus drivers. 

The average cost to educate a child in New York public schools is about $26,000 a year per student.

In the Capital Region, this fall, the Mohonasen School District in Rotterdam saw a sudden influx of 70 new students who were bussed from New York City, requiring the hiring of additional staff to meet their English as a Second Language needs.

“Local taxpayers and our Upstate school districts should not have to shoulder the financial burden of the Mayor of New York City’s arrogance and incompetence of declaring the Big Apple a sanctuary city and doing a 180-degree turn when over 100,000 migrants arrived saying they will ‘destroy New York City’ and then shuffling them off like pawns on a chessboard. I am sponsoring the ‘Migrant Student Transfer Reimbursement Act’ to ensure the state picks up the tab and fully reimburses our local schools for the costs of educating migrant students,” said Senator Jim Tedisco.

“As I’ve repeatedly said, I support immigration and a path to citizenship and have tremendous compassion for those who seek to live in freedom and liberty in our great country. Unfortunately, we have paralysis on the part of the federal government who have failed to secure the border and enact common sense immigration policy.  The City of New York has just exacerbated this desperate situation. Our school districts plan their budgets months in advance and should be held financially harmless by the state for the failure of the federal government to secure the border and the City of New York to pass the buck instead of doing its job,” said Senator Jim Tedisco.

Senator Tedisco also is sponsoring the bipartisan “Migrant Home Rule Transfer Transparency Act” (S.7615/A.8008) to stop one municipality such as New York City from transferring migrants to Upstate communities without notification and getting their sign-off to ensure these municipalities are willing and able to take on the significant burden of hosting these individuals.