Last Tuesday was a good day for most school administrators in the Hudson Valley. It’s a rarity that every school budget in the area was passed. It’s a particularly remarkable feat in this economy, and in places like Newburgh, where the school budget was overwhelmingly approved by a disgruntled voter base.
People who are struggling to make ends meet, and to pay the mortgage, voted yes when it came to a school budget that offered yet another tax increase. On the surface, it’s hard to understand. We face so many increases: astronomical increases in utility rates and in the cost of gasoline, groceries and other staples of everyday living. The school budget is the one area where voters have at least some say in the final outcome. In most cases, that’s reason enough to say no, even in the best of times.
How were the school districts able to sell the public on a spending plan? Credit goes to those school administrators who made some effort to keep their house in order before it went to a vote. Voters also approved a number of propositions as well, including a $44 million capital project in Wallkill, $1.5 million towards a prior capital project at Valley Central and another to purchase several new school buses in Highland.
The good news doesn’t change the overall picture. School districts still need to find ways to trim waste, reduce expenses, and generally find ways to operate more efficiently.
And despite the success of the current year, the state still needs to find better ways to fund education in New York State. The conversation on alternate sources of funding needs to continue. A tax levy, based on income levels, rather than property values still seems most practical, as does a statewide distribution of tax revenue. The question once raised here – why should wealthier communities be able to provide a better education than others – has never been answered. Students in Orange or Ulster County are no less deserving of the newest textbooks than their counterparts in Suffolk. The message delivered at the polls may not have been the same as in year’s past, but the warning remains in place: the system is broke and still needs fixing.