April 6, 2023
“If you give up on your dreams, what’s left?”
THIS YEAR'S SENATE BUDGET PROPOSAL BOOSTS THE RETIREE INCOME CAP
IN NY, RETIRED GOVERNMENT WORKERS CANNOT earn more than $35,000 a year and maintain their pensions if they return to work for NYS. The Senate is hoping that when Governor Hochul signs the budget (currently anticipated on 4/10), she will agree to their proposal to raise that cap by $15,000, an attempt to help solve the workforce problem. As things currently stand, many across the state, including the public schools, are having difficulty filling positions and see this as a stop-gap measure and a partial solution.
ONE STATE'S SOLUTION TO REVERSING THE STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
KENTUCKY IS ON OFFENSE AGAINST THE MENTAL health crisis. They are using federal funding to increase access to student mental health services through an initiative that kicked off with regional action summits to hear directly from the students. Recommendations have been put together based on this input such as incorporating student voice into all levels of decision making, having suicide prevention materials available in every classroom, and funding a full time mental health professional in every school.
NY LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR SAFETY STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL SECURITY
IN AN ATTEMPT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT the increase in mass shootings and other violent crimes, legislation has been proposed to ensure minimum safety standards and best practices for school safety. This issue has been on all our minds and the influx of swatting in our region last week has compounded concerns. Minimum standards are not enough though, so we have advocated to get additional flexible resources for school safety, including funding for staffing, security upgrades, professional development and training, which would allow each district to address these issues individually as needed.
You can see the next WPSBA Weekly Budget Spreadsheet on Friday, April 14th
(There is no new info to share this week.)
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