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Well, I for one didn't even know that there was a school budget vote until the day before it happened. Signs around town are very easy to miss. I don't think that's sufficient to encourage people to vote. If you really want participation, make voting easier - as in mail in ballots. Of course, it probably isn't in the school's interest to make it easier in most cases...
We got a small flyer in the mail about the vote that looked like any other flyer I automatically recycle. I agree, the school boards don't want to make the public aware of these votes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ehmom
Really? I don't know the particulars of your town, but I have to agree with Jjinla on this. I think it's really easy for school budgets in this area to get bloated. More money doesn't automatically mean better education. And the tax burden in this area is shocking already.
This is when we need a local paper to really hash out these issues ahead of time. The Patch is nice, but not enough people read it to make an impact.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bg7
2% increase is just inflation. The schools still have to cut staff and other things even with that increase. The real issue is unfunded, mandated costs from Albany. Westchester has a number of groups, including school superintendents, trying to change that. Until the public is behind them at large tho, those unfunded mandates will continue and people will get upset at the school budget balancing act instead of their NYS state senators. Focus your ire on that.
No way. Kudos to my state senator and I hope NYS cuts more. The heck with this nonsense of letting the school boards slip these bloated budgets on us every year. The only sense of perspective school boards seem to have is what can they get away with every year.
I think some examples include: required pension funding, insurance benefits, services / amount of staff for special needs students, and busing for private school students.
We got a small flyer in the mail about the vote that looked like any other flyer I automatically recycle. I agree, the school boards don't want to make the public aware of these votes.
This is when we need a local paper to really hash out these issues ahead of time. The Patch is nice, but not enough people read it to make an impact.
No way. Kudos to my state senator and I hope NYS cuts more. The heck with this nonsense of letting the school boards slip these bloated budgets on us every year. The only sense of perspective school boards seem to have is what can they get away with every year.
Really?
What percentage of your school district budget is it actually possible to change? Have you any clue how much is discretionary?
As to "kudos" to your state senator - why? - they have increased mandated costs over the last few deacdes, not decreased them.
Have you any clue what you are talking about or is it just a general rant..
The majority of any school budget is taken up by costs beyond the district's control: health insurance, pensions, busing, state mandated buidling repairs, etc., etc., etc. All the school can actually control is staff and student services. So when the school has to cut the budget it is forced to cut teaching jobs and key services that impact learning. There is plenty of waste in the budget, but the school does not control it. Indeed, the 2% cap doesn't even cover the annual increase in the cost of those mandates, so in order to stay under the cap many districts are forced to cut teachers and key services.
[LEFT][/LEFT]
The ignorance of the knee-jerk anti-tax radicals is just astounding. Why don't you people bother to do a little research about school budgets and unfunded mandates before you vote? If you want to reduce school taxes, join one of the many groups that are working to reduce unfunded mandates and give schools control over their own budgets.
Really. Making this all about unfunded mandates is foolishly pretending these school boards are run by angels with only the child's best interest in mind. In my town alone I've seen too many examples of small corruptions on the part the school boards to have any patience left with their complaining about a lack of funds. A lot of these school boards slip in monies for all sorts of discretionary projects, such as hiring a friend's idiot son who can't hold a job anywhere else, and the property tax cap is a blunt and useful instrument to keep the boards under control.
Looks like Scarsdale feels the same way. I wish my town had voted the budget down.
Really. Making this all about unfunded mandates is foolishly pretending these school boards are run by angels with only the child's best interest in mind. In my town alone I've seen too many examples of small corruptions on the part the school boards to have any patience left with their complaining about a lack of funds. A lot of these school boards slip in monies for all sorts of discretionary projects, such as hiring a friend's idiot son who can't hold a job anywhere else, and the property tax cap is a blunt and useful instrument to keep the boards under control.
Looks like Scarsdale feels the same way. I wish my town had voted the budget down.
Thanks for illustrating my point about astounding ignorance. I appreciate it.
I read this weekend in the LoHud that while most districts lost students, they gained a lot of staff. Which unfounded mandate does that fall under?
Briarcliff's failed because the increase was almost TEN percent higher than last year in some areas, and Scarsdale's failed because they wanted a "wellness center" and a gym catering just to girls while blowing through the cap and sitting on millions in reserves. Yes, mandates need to be reduced, but until anything is cut from our schools and people scream to high hell, they won't because as of now people just complain and then vote themselves a tax increase year after year.
I was thoroughly informed about my district's budget and I rejected it because even though some of our classes are horribly overcrowded they were cutting staff while giving free IPADs to middle school kids, starting a pilot program in the one elementary in our district that already gets the lion's share of resources, and continuing to bus private school kids. Is that considered informed enough to qualify to vote?
Yes Briarcliff's budget was 10% higher for Mount Pleasant resdients. However the tax levy of 2% increase relies on the prior year tax levy and not the budget for the calculation. The budget was actually lower! In 2012, the school district used 2 million of reserves to reduce the tax levy. Therefore the base of this years tax levy was superficially low-there are no more reserves to apply in current year for a similar amount. 2 million already had to be cut in this years budget to comrpomise for this since this was a one time revenue source in 2012. The decreases were offset by increases out of the control of the school district, pensions, benefits.
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