Schools
Ossining Community Invited to Educational Equity Rally
The Ossining School District is encouraging families, staff and community members to attend the rally Saturday.
The Ossining School District is encouraging families, staff and community members to attend an Educational Equity Rally Saturday to help fight for fair education funding from the state.
The rally takes place from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Westchester County Daronco Courthouse, 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., White Plains.
“The funding we receive will help us support the needs of the children we serve in our schools,” Superintendent Raymond Sanchez said. “Our hope is that our families, staff and community members are able to join us at the rally.”
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Ossining is one of the “Harmed Suburban Five” school districts, which receive some of the lowest percentages of Foundation Aid in the state. The Harmed Suburban Five is a coalition of parents, teachers and administrators who are fighting for equity in the Ossining, Port Chester-Rye, Glen Cove, Riverhead and Westbury school districts.
Foundation Aid is the largest state education grant to school districts. The Harmed Suburban Five receive less than 55 percent of the Foundation Aid they are due because the formula has not kept pace with the shifting demographics that have brought great change to the school communities. For the Ossining School District, the funding gap is $14 million.
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The Harmed Suburban Five communities share the following characteristics:
- A decrease in community wealth
- An increase in student enrollment.
By contrast, other school districts in New York receive an average of about 80 percent of the funding they are due under the Foundation Aid formula, which was established in 2008.
State legislators and the governor in the process of developing a budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, so it is important that families, community members and staff in the Harmed Suburban Five make their voices heard now. The deadline for finalizing the state budget is April 1.
The Harmed Suburban Five districts are unified in their efforts to secure fair funding. The Riverhead Central School District is also holding a rally for educational equity Saturday.
