Ceretto, Maziarz to rally support for restoring education cuts

Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-C-I-Lewiston, State Sen. George Maziarz, R-C-I-Newfane, and the Partnership for Smarter Schools are holding a rally at Niagara Square in Buffalo Friday, March 7, at 6:30 p.m. The rally is in support of the restoration of education funding that was eliminated by cuts in 2011. Ceretto and Maziarz will also support a two-year moratorium on Common Core exams.

"It is critical that we deliver the best possible education to New York students, because if we don't get education right, we risk setting our kids back in a very competitive economy," Ceretto said. "We need to make sure teachers have the resources they need, and that students have a learning environment that promotes creativity and curiosity. This starts with getting our school funding right and making school districts whole that are unable make a long-term budget due to these cuts."

Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, the state has had to reduce the amount of education aid given to school districts in order to fill a $10 billion budget deficit. In its first year, the cut amounted to $2.7 billion. Since then, local school districts have lost $6.5 billion in state aid. Now that the budget is balanced and the state has a projected $2 billion surplus, these cuts need to be restored, Ceretto's camp said.