If you can read this newspaper, thank a teacher. And then get up to speed on the school budget. The annual school budget dance has begun and the Floral Park Dispatch will soon release preliminary numbers. For the next several weeks, the most active anti-tax activists and the most energetic parents of young children will wrangle over taxes and spending.
For the last several years, budgets have gotten tighter and tighter. Recently, principals and superintendents across Long Island have been saying they can’t even maintain existing programs under current limitations. The geniuses in Albany have been sending our schools less and less tax revenue, and on top of that imposed a cap that limits the ability to raise revenue on our own.
This year, in Floral Park, repairs and athletic field improvements are on the agenda. We at the Floral Park Dispatch are staying on top of these issues, as reported on Feb. 28 and March 14. We will continue to follow the budget as it develops in the coming weeks, right up to the budget vote in May. We encourage readers to keep informed, and to send us their thoughts to share with the community.
