The tax cap effect was on full display in yesterday’s school budget voting. School budgets were approved at a record-high rate of 99.3 percent, adding to evidence that districts can live within a property tax cap set at either 2 percent or the prior year’s average rate of inflation, whichever is less. Read More
Nearly half of the 669 school districts seeking voter approval for budgets on Tuesday, May 16 are presenting spending plans that call for increasing property taxes as high as the 2011 property tax cap law allows, according to an analysis released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
A total of 270 new police, fire, teacher and superintendent contracts were uploaded today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More
Pensions averaged $68,334 for teachers and other professionals who retired in school year 2015-16 after working at least 30 years in New York State public schools. Read More
Some of New York’s worst tendencies in bargaining with government unions were on display yesterday in Buffalo—even before the school board illegally took things behind closed doors. Read More
Twenty-two percent of public school teachers and administrators in New York school districts outside New York City—including about half in the city’s suburbs—were paid more than $100,000 during the 2015-16 school year, according to data added today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More
Whereas NYSUT can negotiate lower benefits for its own employees, McMahon said "School districts don't have that choice. In fact, they have to keep giving raises to people." Read More
The school-budget votes this year included more property-tax-cap overrides and a drop in voter turnout, a report from a school group showed. Read More