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No money has been spent on Cuomo’s $2B bond act to boost schools

Voters in 2014 approved a Cuomo-pushed $2 billion bond act designed to help local school districts purchase needed new technology. But to date, not a dime has been spent on the effort. Read More

E.J. McMahon on “The John Gambling Show”

E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, joined John Gambling to discuss Prop 3. Read More

Upstate turnout looms as election wild card

Proposition 3 would allow the state to borrow $2 billion for educational technology. It is supported by Cuomo and the teacher’s union. The Empire Center, a conservative think tank, has called it a “blank check” to the state’s education bureaucracy. Read More

The Brian Lehrer Show: Ballot Proposal #3: Smart Schools?

Dr. Amy Perry-DelCorvo, CEO of NYSCATE (NYS Association for Computers and Technologies in Education), and E.J. McMahon, senior fellow for Tax and Budgetary Studies at the Manhattan Institute and president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, debate the merits of New York’s ballot proposal #3, a bond act to fund technology for schools. Read More

How Bright is the Smart Schools Bond Act?

The debt this $2 billion bond will create is no small amount in the annual budget. E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, puts the total at roughly $130 million per year, but that figure could change drastically depending on how long the note is for. Read More

Voters to decide on proposed changes to state constitution

Proposal Three would authorize issuing up to $2 billion bond. The money would go to improving technology in classrooms and for technology-based school security. The Empire Center argues it would could about $500 million in interest. Read More

Editorial: New York Proposition 3: No on the Smart Schools Bond Act

Who doesn't want the best for New York's students? But the price tag for electronic equipment that will be obsolete long before it's paid off isn't the best use of the taxpayers' money. We would urge voters to vote "no" on the bond act. Read More

Prop 3: $2 billion Smart Schools Bond Act draws support, opposition

Criticism of the $2 billion bond extends to the think tank The Empire Center for Public Policy, which refers to the Smart Schools Bond Act as full of "highly debatable promises." Considering the state's already "enormous" debt burden, the center advises voter's take caution when thinking about voting on the bond. Read More