While he says he sees the need for drastic cuts in many of the state’s expenditures, Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush says he is concerned that North Country schools will be asked to burden more than their fair share of cuts.

“Many of these cuts are necessary and go a long way in reforming and restructuring how Albany operates,” Blankenbush said in a statement released Thursday. “One of the proposed cuts that I believe contains flaws is a $1.5 billion decrease, or seven-point-three percent, reduction in school aid.”

He says he does not question New York’s tough fiscal situation, but “what concerns me is cutting costs at the expense of our children and taxpayers,” the 122nd District Assemblyman said.

“If cuts must be made to education, they must be fair and proportional. Unfortunately, more and more school aid is being funneled to New York City, a practice that began with the Pataki administration and has continued through the Spitzer, Paterson, and now Cuomo administrations. If the governor’s school aid proposal remains in the final budget, North Country schools will take a disproportionate hit as compared to other ‘high wealth’ areas such as Westchester and Nassau counties. For example, Lewis County will see an average loss of $1,480 per student, whereas a student in Westchester County will face a $722 reduction.”

Blankenbush said that previous efforts to equalize the situation have not met expectations.

“Obviously, the formulas that are in place to ensure that low-wealth school districts face a smaller cut than a higher wealth district are not working. The governor and the Legislature need to take a serious look at formula criteria and consider changes to ensure that lower wealth, smaller districts, like those here in the North Country, do not continue to take unfair hits in school aid.”

But beyond that, Blankenbush says he questions whether or not “instructional aid is where the state should be looking to save money. Instead, we need to look at reducing unfunded mandates, lessening the load of onerous paperwork and yearly audits, instituting fixed price contracts so that procurement costs do not keep rising unexpectedly, and finding ways to cut administrative costs.”

Blankenbush welcomes comments and questions at 287-2384 or blankenbushk@assembly.state.ny.us.

The 122nd Assembly District comprises most of St. Lawrence County, all of Lewis County, and parts of Jefferson and Oswego Counties.