FAHY, NYAPT ANNOUNCE UNIVERSAL PRE-K TRANSPORTATION AID IN ASSEMBLY BUDGET PROPOSAL
ALBANY, N.Y. — Assemblymember Patricia Fahy (D — Albany), joined by New York Association for Pupil Transportation representatives, announced today that the Assembly onehouse budget proposal released this week includes legislation she sponsors alongside Senator Robert Jackson (D — Manhattan) (A.5467 Fahy/S.4409 Jackson), which requires the state to fully reimburse school districts that opt-in to provide transportation for its pre-kindergarten students. Currently, individual school districts that provide transportation for its pre-k students must fund that service entirely on their own. The State currently allows school districts to offer pupil transportation for Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) programs, but does not provide transportation aid reimbursement for these services. Some have suggested that ‘route-sharing’ is enough to mitigate this cost, yet the start and end times for universal pre-k programs vary by individual school district. Thus, current law has the unintentional consequence of creating an unfunded mandate on school districts, who may pay for additional routes without reimbursement by the state. A report illustrating this issue by The Center for Educational Equity titled ‘Securing the Future of New York’s Children: Taking the Next Steps Toward Truly Universal Prekindergarten’ from November 2014 states that, “…lack of funding for transportation has substantially hampered enrollment in pre-K programs, particularly in the rural parts of the state, and/or imposed substantial additional costs on local school districts.” Transportation costs serve as a major barrier to the expansion of pre-k programs and service throughout the state — as universal pre-k expands, so will transportation needs. This bill would ensure that our school districts aren’t shouldering this cost alone and that pre-kindergarten transportation can be reimbursed like any other pupil transportation service a school district provides. “I’d like to thank Speaker Heastie for realizing the unfair burden this leverages on our school districts and for including my legislation in the Assembly budget proposal,” said Fahy. “School districts across the state already provide transportation for its pre-k students, yet are ineligible for state reimbursement. Requiring the state to fully incur the costs associated with pre-k pupil Contact: Alexander Flood W: (518) 455–4178 | M: (518) 755–0010 flooda@nyassembly.gov FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE transportation will assist in the expansion of Universal Pre-Kindergarten, allow more school districts to participate, and encourage more parents to enroll their kids in UPK.” “This is an equity issue,” said Senator Jackson. “We must not disadvantage districts with higher busing costs at the same time as we are claiming to expand educational access by providing UPK. Education is the great equalizer, and we must make UPK accessible to all. Whether this policy change is included in the final budget or passed in the coming months, I will work to make sure my colleagues in the Senate and I stand behind this legislation and get the job done.” “Inclusion of funding for transporting our Pre-Kindergarten children is critical to our ability to transport those children safely,” said NYAPT President Michael Sweeney (Westmoreland CSD). “Our smallest and youngest children need special attention and support as they board and depart their school buses. We thank Assembly Member Patricia Fahy and the entire State Assembly for including this language in its budget bill.” “This issue has been on our legislative agenda since 2013 and we are appreciative to Assemblymember Fahy who has worked hard to get it included in the Assembly one-house budget,” said NYAPT Executive Director David Christopher. “She and Senator Robert Jackson have introduced stand-alone legislation that would accomplish this objective, but we believe it would be more productive to include this in the state budget.” “Expanding the number of high quality prekindergarten seats is important, but if districts cannot afford transportation and parents cannot provide it, these investments in early education are undermined,” said New York State School Boards Association’s Executive Director Timothy Kremer. “NYSSBA supports treating prekindergarten equitably with the rest of the k-12 continuum, and thank Assemblywoman Fahy, Senator Jackson and the Assembly Majority for advancing this important issue.” “All children should have complete and equal access to high quality pre-school educational opportunities, including fully funded transportation,” offered Kyle Belokopitsky, Executive Director of NYS PTA. “Universal pre-kindergarten is necessary for cultivating the continued development of the social, emotional, physical and academic advancement of young children in a manner that supports the whole child. We thank legislators for including critically needed transportation for these vital programs.”
