In my prior post here, I called for the Governor make the rest of the state face the truth about state education funding over the past 30 years, for him to say the unsayables. That New York City’s share of total education funding, including back door “tax relief” aid, has not only been lower than its number of public school children, and very low considering their relative needs, but also lower than city residents’ share of state income and sales taxes – the state has redistributed education funding AWAY from the city’s poor children. That no matter what happens how, the past cannot be undone, those passing through the city’s schools in the past can never recover, and the effect of past underfunding will linger on for many years. That as long as the city’s share of state education funding is less than its residents’ share of its residents’ state income and sales taxes, the rest of the state is doing absolutely nothing to help the city’s children – at best. And, that the money taken away from the city has been used to pay for extravagantly high spending in the rest of the state. But Spitzer hasn’t said those things, and the budget he has presented, net, hits the city hard. And the State Senate is predictably claiming the rest of the state is being cheated, and demanding that the city be hurt even more.
Including the Governor’s own addition to back door school relief aid, he says the city will get 37% of state education funding, same as last year, and the same as the city’s share of public school students. In the past, the city’s share of total education funding has been much less. Given the city’s economic performance, however, it will likely account for 43% of state income and sales taxes, the same as its share of the state’s population. So the education funding the city will receive for the state will be far less that the share of education funding its residents pay for. Money will continue to be redistributed away from the city’s poor children, and since the total funds passing through the state is going up, so will the city’s loss.
Moreover, to pay for more education funding for all, Spitzer has gone after excessive spending in only one category – Medicaid, which is concentrated in New York City. And, he has eliminated general aid to New York City, while keeping it for just about everyone else, including communities that are far wealthier. And his corporate tax loophole closing will primarily hit New York City companies. I’m all in favor of closing loopholes in all taxes, to make them more fair, but he could have chosen to reduce business tax rates at the same time, keeping the tax burden the same. All in all, Spitzer’s budget will hit the city hard, presumably because the Governor feels that the city is doing better than the rest of the state, and that its residents are used to paying more and getting less, and thus are less likely to complain, while those in the rest of the state have a greater sense of entitlement, and so need to be placated. Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t help by proposing stupid handouts while the state budget is being negotiated, as if money is no object down here.
Because Spitzer has claimed to be helping the city when he is actually hurting it, and to be responding to the CFE when he hasn’t even stopped the unfairness going forward let alone atone for the past, the rest of the state continues to demand more and more. Here we see the importance of the truth Spitzer doesn’t want to tell, because it would be politically unpopular to do so. Instead of the narrative being that wealthy Long Island doesn’t want to help pay for declining Upstate, it is that New York City is cheating everyone and needs to be kept in its place. Even though it isn’t true. Because no one is being made to face what is true. And no one is willing to call the bluff and demand that state aid be cut and the city pay for its higher school funding itself, so it will be cheated less rather than more.
The Governor should have spoken clearly and forcefully about how much the city’s children have been hurt by past policies, about how it is a moral issue to at least stop the harm, and that far from needing a handout from the rest of the state, the city’s children had merely required the state education money paid by city residents themselves. And he should have followed this be saying clearly that instead of helping the city’s school children, under his proposal the rest of the state will merely hurt them less than before, and hit other city services and its taxpayers more than before. This is what he has in fact proposed, and if he compromises with the State Senate, the city and its children will be even worse off. I’d like us to be “one state,” but not if doing so means the city is made to sacrifice to help the rest of the state while the rest of the state is outraged because they are told, falsely, that they are being cheated by the city. This is an outrage, and what is said and not said, because politicians want to pander to those outside the city, has consequences.
Someone should go to the libraries Upstate and collect some juicy quotes from the days when NYC was flat on its back economically, and the rest of the state resented bailing us out. Even though, net of all state revenues and expenditures, NYC was always a net contribuor the state budget, even in the early 1990s when 1 million were on welfare and the city lost 300,000 jobs. What an attitude! Please Governor Spitzer, stop feeding it!