The last board of education meeting I attended also happened to be the initial recommendations for the proposed budget for the 2014-15 year. Amid the myriad figures and statistics bandied about, perhaps the most disturbing had to do with something called the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA). According to the New York State School Boards Association, “Since the 2009-2010 school year, the state has deducted from each school district’s state aid allocation an amount now known as the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) to help the state fill its revenue shortfall.” Essentially, the GEA takes money that should be going to school districts and puts it in the state’s own budget. During the three years the GEA has been operating, Garden City has seen its state aid reduced by a grand total of $3,141,513. It’s a disturbingly high number, pointing at the continued dilemma Long Island communities face—that of more tax money going up to Albany than what comes back downstate in the form of state aid. Unless this formula is changed, the words “affordable living” and “Long Island” will become a quintessential oxymoron.
— Dave Gil de Rubio
