The vast majority of school districts on Tuesday approved their proposed budgets, a pass rate of 98 percent, according to the New York State United Teachers union.
“Parents and community members showed their commitment to strong public education by resoundingly approving school budgets statewide in near-unanimous fashion yet again and electing to school boards educators dedicated to serving their area’s students,” NYSUT President Andy Pallotta said. “At a time when resources have been limited, it has never been more important for voters to stay engaged in and support our public school students and their dedicated teachers.”
At the same time, 29 NYSUT members were elected to school board seats.
The review by the union found of the 576 school budgets put before voters, only 10 were defeated. The pass rate for school district budgets has been around 98 percent for the last five years as districts set spending plans within a limit on how much they can raise in property tax levies.
Eight of the 10 budgets that were defeated had sought to override the tax cap.
“While we were disappointed the tax cap was made permanent earlier this year, NYSUT will not stop fighting for changes to this law to ensure schools are receiving the resources they need to thrive,” Pallotta said.