{"id":108877,"date":"2019-08-30T12:05:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=108877"},"modified":"2019-08-30T12:05:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:05:52","slug":"stirpe-keeping-our-kids-safety-education-first-as-they-head-back-to-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=108877","title":{"rendered":"Stirpe: Keeping our kids\u2019 safety, education first as they head back to school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Assemblyman Al Stirpe<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost that time of the year again. Right now, the\nstores are stocked with pencils, folders and composition notebooks as parents\nand their kids receive supply lists, homeroom assignments and class schedules.\nCome September, school buses will hit the roads, ready to transport students\nacross New York State for another year of learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back-to-school season can be exciting, but it can also be a\nnerve-wracking time for some students, especially the youngsters entering\nkindergarten, kids heading into middle or high school for the first time or\nthose who\u2019ve transferred to a new district. But while it may be scary at first,\nstudents should know that they can find support from their teachers,\nadministrators and peers as they progress on their educational journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m also working hard to support students and schools in\nCentral New York and beyond. This past legislative session, I helped pass a\nnumber of measures to help ensure our kids\u2019 safety and provide our schools with\nthe resources they need to best serve students. To that end, I co-sponsored and\nhelped pass a new law allowing municipalities to implement a school bus camera\nprogram (Ch. 145 of 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, drivers who illegally passed a stopped school\nbus displaying a red visual signal could only be issued a ticket by a police\nofficer who witnessed the violation. With the new program, municipalities can\ninstall cameras on school buses as well as stationary cameras and issue fines\nto drivers who illegally pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s estimated that 50,000 drivers illegally pass school\nbuses across the state every day, which is simply unacceptable.[1] Parents\nshouldn\u2019t have to fear for their children\u2019s life at the bus stop. This law will\nhelp hold irresponsible drivers accountable for their negligent actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support our students and teachers, I helped pass the\n2019-20 state budget, which provides public schools with a $1 billion increase\nin education funding for a total of $27.8 billion. Additionally, the budget\nallocates $1.5 million for junior high school mental health grants and $96.6 million\nfor public libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To empower local school districts and teachers, the state\nbudget also removes the mandate that state-created and administered assessments\nbe used for teacher and principal evaluations. A curriculum that works for Central\nNew York won\u2019t be the same as one that works for students in the Bronx or North\nCountry. This measure allows our educators to do what they do best \u00ad\u2013 teach our\nkids \u2013 instead of following a cookie-cutter approach that\u2019s geared toward\nhigh-stakes testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we approach the new school year, I\u2019ll continue fighting\nto ensure our schools are funded, our educators receive proper support and that\nour kids are safe so they can receive the best education possible. Meanwhile, I\nhope all Central New York students are ready to learn as we gear up for what\u2019s\nsure to be another exciting school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, my door is open to anyone who has questions about\nthis or any other community issue. Please don\u2019t hesitate to contact my office\nat 315-452-1115 or StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1] safeny.ny.gov\/opsafstp.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s almost that time of the year again. Right now, the stores are stocked with pencils, folders and composition notebooks as parents and their kids receive supply lists, homeroom assignments and class schedules. Come September, school buses will hit the roads, ready to transport students across New York State for another year of learning. Back-to-school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23813,32,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-crime","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}