NYS Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia’s Statement on President Trump’s Proposed Budget

Despite the outcry from education leaders, President Trump’s proposed budget includes a sweeping and irresponsible slashing of the U.S. Department of Education’s budget. The severe cut will have far-reaching impacts across the nation, with life-shattering consequences for New York’s children.  If these proposed cuts become reality, gaps and inequity in education will grow, eliminating the progress we have worked so hard to gain. Vital community and arts programs would cease to exist, leaving voids in neighborhoods across the state.

The State Education Department receives $3.6 billion in federal funding each year, the vast majority of which is passed on to local school districts to support at-risk children. By abolishing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for New York, President Trump will eviscerate after-school programs, community learning centers, teacher preparation, work study, adult education and cultural programs. These are the very programs that help our most at-risk students and community centers.

As advocates for New York’s children, we must tell Congress that these wholesale cuts are not acceptable. New York needs adequate federal funding to support our students so they can succeed in life. We encourage all our educational partners to urge Washington to put the future of our children first.

Total Cuts to New York Programs: $433,473,204

NYSED’s Preliminary Analysis of Proposed Federal Budget Finds:

New York State Education Department & School District Programs

Stand to Lose More Than $280 Million

Non-NYSED Administered Program Cuts 

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