Now that the kids are back in school, the damage caused by the state-mandated tax cap that we warned about last spring has become a reality.
The Tea Party and the anti-tax conservatives win. Your children lose.
We contacted a number of school superintendents in our area and they all said that they are losing the struggle to maintain class sizes. They have two equally unacceptable choices: cut the number of teachers or cut sports and the arts which play an important role in a child’s education. Either way the students come up short.
“We’re getting squeezed on both the revenue and the cost side. I don’t see any immediate relief enough to turn it back in the opposite direction,” said Herricks Superintendent of Schools John Bierwirth.
His district, he said, has already eliminated 63 teaching positions.
We urge our local legislators to amend the state tax cap so that school districts will have an option to making devastating cuts.
The quality of our schools is vital to the quality of life in Long Island. The far right may not understand this, but you do.
