The Assembly and Senate stand with our schools but they are not the ones who make decisions on tuition increases.
Tuition increases are negotiated by State Education Department (SED) and the Division of Budget (DOB). SED is beginning to prepare the rate letter that they will send to DOB and the Board of Regents can be instrumental in influencing what SED will request.
Attached is a letter for you to send to your Regent and the Members at Large, drawing their attention to our inadequate funding, teacher shortage crisis and discrimination against our kids!
While they understand that #OurKidsareYOURKids (their kids), they need to hear from you to remind them to take action now!
Find your Regent here
Please send your letter no later than April 5th but the sooner the better and please forward this email to all your lists and groups!
It will take all of us to create the momentum we need to save our schools!
Thank you!
We had some wins in the Assembly and Senate one-house budgets and
now we need to CALL CALL CALL to make sure that our priorities make it to the final budget!
For OPWDD
- Call the Governor at 518-474-1041 and tell him to include both the Senate and Assembly support of #bFair2DirectCare, and restoration of the COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) and the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) in the final budget!
- Call your Senator at 518-455-2800 and your Assembly member at 518-455-4100, thank them and ask for their commitment to support #bFair2DirectCare and the restoration of the COLA and CDPAP in the final budget!
For Special Education
- Call the Governor at 518-474-1041 and tell him to support both the Senate and Assembly tuition increases for 853 and 4410 schools (at least 4%) and tell him that we desperately need an additional $15M in Excessive Teacher Turnover funding to begin to close the salary gap between our teachers and school district teachers because #OurKidsareYOURKids and they are entitled to FAPE!
- Call your Senator 518-455-2800 and your Assembly member 518-455-4100 and thank them for their support of our schools. Ask for their commitment to at least 4% increases in tuition and an additional $15M in Excessive Teacher Turnover funding because #OurKidsareYOURKids and they deserve a quality education too!
For DOH
- Call the Governor at 518-474-1041 and tell him to support both the Senate and Assembly restoration of CDPAP funding. Tell him that our entire EI program needs a 5% increase (across the board, not just on therapies) and tell him to include language to implement a “covered lives” insurance pool in the EI program.
- Call your Senator at 518-455-2800 and your Assembly member at 518-455-4100 and thank them for their support of the CDPAP program and the Early Intervention program and ask them to support the CDPAP restoration, a 5% increase on all EI services and “covered lives” language for insurance coverage of EI services in the final budget.
If you don’t know who your Senator is click here
If you don’t know who your Assembly member is click here
For the letter to regent click here