To the Editor:
(Brookfield, NY – Aug. 2014) Every year, school administrators, parents, teachers and students are forced to deal with Albany’s unfair allocation of state education aid to school districts. Year after year, we hope for a better, more equitable distribution from the legislature, and year after year we are let down. Albany’s politicians have proven unable, unwilling and unworthy to distribute school aid equitably.
The solution is simple: it’s time to turn over the distribution of funds to an independent commission.
As a father and a former school board member and president, I know that our children are the most precious resources we have, and funding their education is one of the most important responsibilities we have as a state.
As your next assemblyman, I would support an independent funding commission because it is the only solution to this problem. The career politicians in the legislature have proved unequal to the task. Establishing an independent commission made up of experts charged with equitably distributing school aid will work to solve a serious problem. It’s what best for our kids.
The idea of an independent funding commission is not new, it’s not drastic, and it’s not unreasonable. When the state faced the problem of funding the hospital and nursing home system, it established the Berger Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century to ensure that politicians could not use the funding crisis for their own gain at the expense of patients.
Likewise, we can no longer afford for political calculations and manipulations to play a role in the distribution of education funding. An independent commission will be able to address issues such as the restoration of the Gap Elimination Adjustment and what’s known as Foundation aid. Foundation aid is currently awarded on a per-pupil basis. As a result, larger, urban districts receive more aid than smaller, rural districts that have similar expenses.
Politicians in the legislature are unable to change the per-pupil Foundation aid award scheme because too many votes depend on it. An independent commission, in contrast, would be able to find a way to equitably distribute Foundation aid in order to benefit all types of school districts, especially the urban and rural school districts, which lack the tax base to adequately fund their schools.
I’m running for the Assembly because I support common-sense reform ideas like the creation of an Independent Commission on Education Funding. I want to work to change the status quo in Albany on important issues like education funding. I’m tired of the same old results from Albany’s politicians about education funding year after year. I’m tired of seeing our urban school districts receive funds at the expense of rural school students with equal or greater need, simply because there are fewer voters to impress in rural districts.
For years, politicians have failed our students in terms of education aid. It’s time for citizens to join together to demand more than political posturing.
It’s time for an independent solution to the education funding crisis; it’s time for an Independent Commission.
John Salka, Brookfield Supervisor and Republican Candidate for for the 121st New York State Assembly District