Power & Politics: The future of state funding for public schools and the results of the latest Siena College Poll

This week's guests are State Sen. Shelley Mayer and Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

Jonathan Gordon

Dec 15, 2024, 5:56 PM

Updated 6 days ago

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Rockefeller Report

The Rockefeller Institute recently released its extensive study that found the state needs to reexamine the formula it uses to distribute aid for public schools.
The study outlined that the data the state uses to come up with the amounts each district gets is outdated.
It will now be up to the state legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul to interpret the recommendations and come up with a final plan that will likely reshape the future of education funding in New York.
State Sen. Shelley Mayer, who chairs the state senate education committee, is working on a plan.
"Many Hudson Valley school districts weighed in strongly with testimony and commentary and ideas of what they wanted, so their voices were heard," she said.

Siena College Poll

An end-of-the-year Siena College Poll examined Gov. Hochul's popularity, voters' most important issues heading into a new legislative session and topics like immigration.
“Elected officials might want to listen when more than two-thirds of voters – including 77% of Democrats, 72% of independents and 60% of Republicans – tell them that the cost of living is one of their top two priorities for the coming legislative session. And 43% said it was the top priority,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said. “Nearly half of voters said the availability of affordable housing should be one of the top two issues."
The entire report can be found here.