• Please Take 5 Minutes to Tell Senate and Assembly Leaders to
  
• "Send FULL $250 Million to Schools That NEED It Most!" 
  
• Time Is Short - State Budget Passage Is IMMINENT!
  
• $$$ MUST Go Directly to SCHOOLS IN NEED and Schools Must Know How Much Aid They Are to Receive
  
• Compose and Send Letters to Legislators Using New, Easy-Use-Tool
  
• PLEASE USE IT IMMEDIATELY and FORWARD THIS REQUEST to everyone you know, no matter their school district.  
  

The Senate and the Assembly have each approved their plans for the 2012-13 state budget. Both houses have reduced funding for Governor Cuomo's vague and untested grants program from $250 million to $50 million. That leaves more money to be distributed as direct aid for school districts that most need it.
 
But many questions remain unanswered, including: How much money will this really be? And, just as important: How will these funds be distributed? And: How much aid will our school districts receive?
 
Negotiations between the leaders of the Senate and Assembly and Governor Cuomo are in progress NOW, with the intention to pass the budget the week of March 19. Time is short. That is why we must keep the heat on Albany, and we must do it NOW.
 
School districts need to know EXACTLY how much aid they will receive in this budget deal. District-by-district allocations have not been made public, but both the Senate and Assembly must know in order to arrive at a formula for adoption by March 19.
 
We need to know before the budget is passed that the distribution of as much as $250 million will be equitable -- and not a continuation of the "Shares Agreement," which sends more money to wealthy districts based on politics rather than need.
 
One way to keep the heat on Albany is to inundate our leaders in the Senate and Assembly with letters that clearly state our expectations for the $250 million.
 
More than 500 people have taken advantage of a new, easy-to-use tool recently added to the SSFC website that allows you and your school district's supporters to both prepare and send a letter in about five minutes. It is our goal for hundreds more to use it before March 19.
 
Go to www.statewideonline.org and next to the flashing 'ACT NOW' button click on the blue 'Click Here' button.
 
The second letter-writing campaign focuses on the redirection of the $250 million, emphasizing that it must be done equitably and in a transparent manner: Trust but Verify. The letter specifically requests that members of the Senate and Assembly send aid runs for your school district to your district Superintendent.
You are welcome to edit/adapt the wording of the letter we prepared to fit the needs and circumstances of your school community.
 
The $250 million does not represent a cure-all for the unfair distribution of state aid we have had to accept for the past 20-plus years, but it does provide immediate and urgently needed life support for many of us.
 
Remember, ALL are welcome to go the SSFC website, use the tool and send a letter to Albany. In fact, WE ASK THAT YOU ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOUR STAKEHOLDERS TO JOIN THIS EFFORT!
 
If you have any questions about utilizing this tool, please contact us at 315-463-1904.