New York News

School Funding Push Returns As NY Lawmakers Seek Budget Deal

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published March 28, 2019 at 3:51 PM EDT

The perennial debate over how much New York spends on public schools has returned to Albany as lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo work to craft a new state budget before Monday's deadline.

Several Democratic lawmakers joined dozens of parents and education advocates Thursday for an education finance protest outside Cuomo's office.

Cuomo has proposed $956 million in new education funding for a total of $27.7 billion. Those at Thursday's protest want an additional $1.2 billion in order to comply with court rulings that found the state was underfunding public schools.

Education spending makes up the largest share of the budget and is often among the thorniest issues to resolve in the budget.

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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