At the Committee of 100 briefing, six (6) former educators (three senators - Jabari Brisport, John Mannion, Lea Webb and three assembly members - Christopher Eachus, William Conrad, Chantel Jackson) talked about education. Assemblymember Patrick Burke had also planned to be at the meeting but was sick. The briefing also included a review of talking points to discuss with the legislators:
Assemblymember Donna Lupardo:
- She also wants the four money issues NYSUT is suggesting (billionaires’ tax, ultra-millionaires’ tax, assessment, and Trump Tax cut- NY Senate bill).
- She said most legislators want new revenue and thinks the governor is now okay for more taxes.
- It looks like there will be 13 billion dollars in unrestricted aid and 9.7 billion dollars in aid to K-12 schools from the Federal Government.
- The governor is giving money to schools to cover transportation, school meals, internet, materials, etc. for the Spring of 2020 but nothing for staff or forward to the following school year.
Again, this year the legislators agreed with most of NYSUT’s suggestions for improving education, but most were silent about NYSUT’s suggestions on how to raise the additional funds by adding an additional tax on the ultra-millionaires or billionaires. One legislator did say he was against any additional taxes and made other suggestions. Each member was given a booklet to give to the legislators with NYSUT’s recommendations. Some of their ideas and topics we discussed with the legislators were: