| Dear PTA Members, On the surface, the proposal of the Suozzi Commission on Property Tax Relief to "cap" school district levies at an annual 4% sounds quite enticing. However, "caveat emptor", Buyer Beware! Tax caps are regressive measures proven to undermine both student access to quality education and community well-being. So, before you "buy" (are asked your opinion), make sure you read the warning label! WARNING: Don't be fooled that the solution for tax relief is this tax cap! We recognize the burden of high property taxes however the commission's targeted focus on schools as the solution misrepresents the issue. Schools have become an easy mark for accusations of overspending while the State Comptroller's Office has consistently found that this simply is not true. The report eliminates relief structures already in place, such as STAR rebates. School budget votes already empower communities to vote down budgets and to cap expenditures they deem too high. If we believed schools to be the problem, why did nearly 93% of school budgets pass this year? WARNING: Tax caps implemented in other states have had devastating effects on schools and communities! California's Proposition 13 reduced some of the best schools in the country to the worst by eliminating physical education, art and music, increasing class size, reducing staffing, etc. Colorado has followed a similar path. Massachusetts is touted as having a successful tax cap and high overall achievement. Here the achievement gap between students living in affluent neighborhoods, where caps are easily overridden, and those of low-income areas, has increased exponentially. Short falls in state aid are offset by reducing or eliminating municipal services and employees. With greater density, poverty and diversity of population, the impact on our NY schools and communities could be devastating. Why revert to such a regressive system when we are barely into the second year of a foundation formula for school aid, purportedly designed to address educational inequities? WARNING: Mandates make it impossible to cut non-discretionary spending! "Caps" force cuts in discretionary programs, staff and services. Even with modest staff salary increases, when coupled with escalating fuel, insurance benefits, and special education costs, districts will have no choice but to cut student programs and staffing to meet the cap. Research programs that produce the largest number of Intel science winners in the nation, arts and music programs, remedial and AP classes should not only be realities for affluent school districts, but for all. It is unrealistic to think state aid to districts will increase at a percentage needed to offset a cap and assure continued access to these programs. WARNING: Be wary of election-year gimmicks! Schools have been far more publicly responsible than other forms of government - the majority of educators are highly qualified and financial and programmatic auditing practices now abound. There is no indication of a comparable reform effort anywhere but for the schools. There is no recommendation that the state provide a minimum percent of state aid annually. Through the recommendation of this Commission our children, schools and communities become political bargaining chips. With no one participating to represent either the interest or intricacies of our public schools, the Commission report puts politics before children, artificial numbers before quality, and attempts to satisfy a few while paying little regard to the impact on the whole. In contrast, we in PTA want what is best for our children and communities and recognize that sometimes this takes personal sacrifice. It is critical to know the facts and not accept hasty decisions based on misguided premises that bargain away our children's future and devalue our communities. Let's not buy in to a quick-fix solution that, in reality, will do more harm than good. Instead, we must adhere to the belief and fight to retain this right -- how much, and in what manner we will invest in our children, our schools, and our future is our choice to make. As advocates, you will soon be called upon to add your voice to ensure this choice! |
