AUBURN - As director of the Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center, Victoria Shepardson has dedicated the last 10 years to assisting educators enhance their skills and thereby better reach students.

Within the walls of the center located on Genesee Street in Auburn, educators in the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, its nine component schools, area private and parochial schools, colleges and universities and nearly 60 county and community agencies and programs have access to myriad resources, including professional development, literature on education and related topics, courses on topics relevant to education, computer and technology training, arts and crafts machines to create posters and classroom visual aids.

But the resources offered and the doors of the local teacher center and every other across the state may close in June if the state Legislature approves Gov. David Paterson's 2009-10 budget proposal.

To close a $13.7 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year, Paterson is proposing the complete elimination of funding for the more than 130 teacher centers statewide.

“I think it will have a huge impact because teachers have come to rely on the teacher center,” Shepardson said. “They know we are reliable, that we're helpful. We provide the necessary information when they call or through e-mails. We help them get to the next step.”

Teacher centers were established and are funded by the state to provide systematic, ongoing professional education services to the state's teachers. The Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center receives $223,000 from the state each year, which funds the salaries of five full-time and part-time employees, rent, operational costs and programming.

The center does not require membership fees or dues - nearly all of what they offer is free of cost to educators - and only asks for nominal registration and material fees in rare occasions, like its substitute teacher training slated for the end of this month.

But that may change in the near future if funding is stricken from the budget. The center's governing board will meet next week to discuss options, which may include requiring fees or fundraising, or nothing at all, Shepardson said. But if all else fails, the teacher center will close its doors June 30.

Reciting a line from Paterson's State of the State Address Wednesday afternoon - “The only way to restore our long-term economic competitiveness is to build the world's best system of education” - Shepardson questioned the teacher center's role in fostering that.

“I'm thinking, 'Well geez, aren't we apart of that? Aren't we here to help teachers to become better teachers, to help them increase their knowledge and then in turn be reaching out to their students and helping them?' That's the bottom line. The kids are the bottom line.”

Shepardson is hoping educators and the public at large contacts local Legislators to show their support for the teacher center.

“I think there are other ways that need to be looked at in making cuts to a budget,” she said. “I feel that eliminating a program that has been beneficial over the years, and proven to be beneficial, is the answer.”

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net