PUBLIC EDUCATION AT THE CROSSROADS
Educational Forum: Tax Cap Means Broken Schools
Take Action Long Island (TALI) hosted a forum on May 1st joining residents from Long Island to
give a voice to our problems relating to the tax cap and testing. Over 1100 educators, parents,
administrators and support staff listened to featured guest speaker Diane Ravitch, author, blogger,
professor and former Asst. Secretary of Education discuss how public education is being eroded by
greedy corporations advocating charter schools that don’t work. Students are being forced to take
high stakes tests that do not accurately assess what they know.
A panel discussion followed featuring two Deputy Superintendents for Business, a public school
teacher representative and a parent/PTA representative. The result? A unified reaction:
Public Education is in danger!
Governor Cuomo’s tax cap is choking our districts. Local school board decisions are being
controlled by the bureaucrats in Albany and one person, one vote is being violated by forcing
residents to reach a 60% majority in order to exceed the tax cap and prevent massive cuts. Districts
are slashing the arts, sports and personnel. Large increases in class size are occurring and districts
are facing unfunded mandates that include excessive costs for testing.
How can we ensure that our public schools stay strong and properly funded?
How can a local community provide the educational programs it deems appropriate for its children?
Our fight continues June 8th with a rally in Albany.
