CCC Testimony: New York State Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Hearing on the New York State Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Education Executive Budget Proposals

Published January, 2012

CCC testified about the impact the Governor’s Executive Budget would have on children and families at the January 23, 2012 joint Senate/Assembly Education Hearing on the Executive Budget for State Fiscal Year 2012-2013.

CCC testified that lawmakers needed to ensure that they adopted a budget that prioritizes providing a sound education to all New York school children. CCC’s recommendations to do this included:

• Investing an additional $53 million in Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) and providing counties more flexibility to use UPK funds for full-day UPK for 4-year olds and half day UPK for 3 year-olds.
• Rejecting proposals to pre-school special education including reducing state reimbursement and requiring an “arm’s length” between the pre-school special education evaluator and treatment provider.
• Rejecting the proposal to create competitive grants for education aid.
• Supporting the Executive Budget proposals to add funding for the GED exam and state assessments (such as the January Regents Exam).