Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi of Utica issued the following statement May 23 following the release of President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget for fiscal-year 2018:
“The budget proposal President Trump has released would end public education as we know it in New York. I am greatly concerned that at a time when school districts are finally receiving the funding they need for vital programs, this budget would dramatically slash federal funding and would eliminate vital programs at-risk students need to succeed. Valuable summer programs and before and after school programs; programs designed to reduce class sizes; college aid programs for the disadvantaged; and community school programs that benefit low-income students would be eliminated. Funding for programs like the Career and Technical Education diploma that I have been advocating for, as well as adult literacy and English Language Acquisition programs would be significantly cut. I urge all our members of Congress representing New York to rise and deliver an emphatic no to this extremely short-sighted plan that threatens to block the pathways to success for some of our most vulnerable students.”