"Biggest New Rochelle Schools 'Spend Ballot' in History, Tues, 5/19/26. Schools' Efficacy/Cost Real Issues"

"New Rochelle's school district has proposed a year 2026-2027 budget of $370,369,165, representing 3.03% increased spending and 1.85% increased local taxes ((https://www.nred.org/o/nrps/page/budget-2026-2027); despite continuing enrollment decreases (last fall, 9714 kids attended our public schools: dropping from 9722 the prior year; the highest count, 10,672 in 2017), poor reading and math achievement scores, and chronic truancy and tardiness.

Our schools have never been so expensive. NR public education, once a model of quality and value, now costs more per-pupil than tuition at some private and parochial schools and Yeshivas.

New Rochelle's city government in December passed a $256 million budget for maybe - because local population data is hard to come by - 87.000 residents & citizens; taxpaying, property-owning & apartment-renting.

It is difficult to compare spending by different local and state governments because their missions and constituency bases often vary: but the differentials between New Rochelle city and school spending over the past decade are hard to ignore: As much as nearly 50%, while previously, the bodies' respective spending levels were more closely aligned.

The author must ask: Why don't city taxpaying, renting and fee-paying citizens and residents pay any real attention to the efficacy of governmental schools? Especially concerning annual disbursements, where the public has a voice in the matter; unlike with municipal spending, where city council-members vote on budgets for streets, sanitation and police and fire services.

This is not a theoretical problem. In the 2025-2026 election concerning the $360 million dollar New Rochelle public school budget (and the election of two trustees), barely 6,000 people cast ballots in total. The voting population in New Rochelle is easily over 40,000! (per recent state, county and federal election returns).

Where is the citizenry? Do they care about the quality of local public education? And will someone in the New York State Assembly or Senate propose legislation calling for a quorum, a required minimum number of voters/residents/citizens, before certification of such elections? (Whether the spending meets or exceeds state spending caps is of minor importance.)