School Facilities Bond Act: Vote Yes

Would you like to attend school in a building with a collapsing facade, rusty beams, falling masonry, or a leaking roof? Would you object to your child being taught in a converted storeroom -- or worse yet, a converted bathroom? How about twenty-six students squeezed into a space designed for thirteen? Or a school unable to teach computer skills so vital for success in the 21st century because the electrical capacity required to support computers just isn't there?

 

Yet students and teachers go to school every day in school buildings across New York City, New York State and indeed the nation that are threats to their physical safety. Naturally, they do little to encourage teaching and learning. They say a lot about how we value education and those who direct it as well as those who seek to benefit from it. The U.S. government estimates that billions of dollars are required to repair and maintain the crumbling infrastructures typical of thousands of schools.

 

Here in New York, the State School Facility Health & Safety Bond Act of 1997 responds to this situation and will appear as one of three issues on the ballot in November. It authorizes the creation of a voter approved general obligation State debt in the amount of $2.4 billion and will provide funds for school construction and major capital improvements of the State's public education system.

 

Specifically the proposal will create additional space to absorb New York State's student enrollment, rehabilitate aging school facilities, provide funds for repairs and major school facility maintenance including wiring for computer technology. Those opposed to the issue argue that the Bond Act contains no legislation outlining how the money would be allocated, that there are no standards to determine whether proposed projects are good or bad or to determine which schools would be eligible for the money and the repair and construction should be done on a pay-as-you-go basis.

 

Sheldon Silver, the Assembly Speaker, asserts that about 40% of the funds will go to New York City and that the Regents will develop the guidelines including distribution on a priority basis taking into account issues of health and safety, continued maintenance, district capacity, and technological needs.

 

Change NY, as well as the Conservative Party, oppose the bond issue. ADA believes our children deserve better. Your vote for the Bond Act in November will put our children on the road to improved academic achievement in a safe learning environment.

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