Schools in New York are funded primarily by a combination of state aid and local school taxes (3 percent of our budget revenue comes from other funding sources).

The percentage of state aid for each school district varies. For our 2006-2007 school budget, state aid provided 27 percent of the revenue needed to support our budget, and 70 percent was provided by our local school taxes. Therefore, our district had to generate the “lion's share” of the revenue needed to provide what is necessary to educate all the students in our district.

The current state aid formula is extremely complicated and incorporates numerous factors in determining state aid. One major factor that determines state aid is based on property values and wealth ratios. For our district, these factors reduce the support of state tax dollars toward our school budget.

The cost of a textbook in Skaneateles is the same as the cost of the same textbook in every other district in New York. The state aid ratio in many high-need districts can easily be the reverse of our aid ratio, with 70 percent of the revenue provided by state aid and 30 percent provided by the tax levy. Therefore, funding of school budgets varies greatly from district to district throughout the state.

The state is currently considering changing the state aid formula. A major impetus for this consideration of a new state aid formula is the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. The CFE lawsuit was filed by the New York City School District. The suit, filed in May of 1993, challenged the constitutionality of New York's education funding system on the grounds that it denies thousands of students the opportunity to a “sound basic education.”

On March 23, 2006, the Appellate Division ruled in favor of CFE, ordering the legislature to provide New York City schools with $4.7 billion to $5.63 billion in additional operating aid and $9.2 billion in additional capital funding.

School budgets are based on expenditures to fund programs for students. These expenditures include, but are not limited to, the following: salaries, staff development, special program tuitions, supplies and materials, equipment, transportation and utilities. Once a budget is developed and the expenditures are identified, revenues are explored to determine funding for the budget. Revenues include state aid and local school taxes, with a small portion of our revenues being provided by federal and state grants. The board of education, after reviewing the expenditures and revenues, must authorize the tax levy to provide the financial support necessary to offer programs for all the students in the district.

I commend our school board and our community for their support of the programs for all the students in the Skaneateles Central School District. I believe the education that our students receive is superior to most others in New York and in the country. I also believe the board of education has been fiscally responsible during budget processes. Our board and our community have been forward-thinking and visionary.

Our school district is considered to be highly affluent by the state when determining allocation of school state aid. Upon closer examination, our district is composed of a variety of people from all walks of life. I believe a universal trait shared by each of the residents of the district is that we are hardworking individuals who value education.

Our community strives to instill the proper work ethic and value system in our children, along with the adage that hard work pays off and will lead to prosperous lives for them and their families. This is a testament to who we are, which is not apparent by crunching data with a complicated formula.

It would be interesting to do a study of school state aid increases over the past 10 years and student performance. I would dare say that the districts with the highest student performance have had more nominal increases in school state aid than the low student performance districts that have received large increases.

It would be sensible to give all school districts state aid based on the Consumer Price Index, which could be used to cover salary, utility and other standard budget item increases. The state could then develop two new categories for state aid. One category could be based on performance, and the other could be based on high student needs. This would help to provide a consistent baseline of school state aid to all schools, while also addressing other factors.

Another area that could help on the expenditure side of all school budgets would be to create a statewide consortium for health care. The Skaneateles Central School District could easily save at least $500,000 annually if this system was put into place. I am trying to generate support for this proposal with our legislators.

We are currently looking for other funding sources to help with our programming needs. I received a grant from state Sen. John DeFrancisco for $28,885 for the purchase of music equipment. We have completed a grant application for $249,995 for staff development, and another community collaboration grant for $200,000 for athletic facility improvements and expansions. We are still in contention for the funding of these two grants.

We are committed to providing the best education for all of our students, while being fiscally responsible. We continue to look for revenue streams from grant opportunities and other funding sources.

I hope the state will reward our hard work and develop a more equitable method for the distribution of state aid to all schools statewide.

D'Angelo Jr. is superintendent of Skaneateles Central Schools.