This is the letter I had received from Governor Cuomo a few days ago as you can see how his message was generic. I have not responded to Governor Cuomo yet since my time and energy are more invested in contacting the legislators as it currently lies in their hands to vote by April 1, 2011.
As seen below, I will share you some of the e-mail messages from the legislators
that I have received recently and I am happy to tell you that most of the responses are favorable to protecting the funding for 4201 schools.
Sean Gerlis, a Deaf father of 7-month year old Deaf baby who is already a student at Fanwood School for the Deaf and a board member of National
Association of Deaf Region 1, received the same letter from the Governor and he granted me his permission to post his response here.
Here is the letter from Governor Cuomo:
(you may click on the letter to see it in enlarged print)
And here is the letter from Sean Gerlis:
The
Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo (via mail)
Governor
of New York State
NY
State Capitol Building
Albany,
NY 12224
March
8, 2011
RE:
Follow up on the OPPOSITION of the
Proposed Budget Elimination of 4201 Schools for the Deaf
Dear
Governor Cuomo:
Last
Friday I received a letter from your office. That I had received a response to
my letter initially pleased me. However, as I read the letter, I was
disappointed because your response DID
NOT address my concerns at
all. It appears the letter was simply a
template attempting to justify the budget cuts in PUBLIC EDUCATION, a template that supplied a generic response about
schools for the Deaf, Blind, and Severely Physically Disabled. I have no idea
why you thought my concerns were related to public education, a fully separate
issue from what I wanted to discuss. Rather, I have been treated as an
insignificant voter with insignificant concerns that you perceive as being
easily dismissed.
My
initial letter included an explanation of why the budget cuts to 4201 Schools
for the Deaf should be reconsidered. As mentioned in that letter:
1.
There is a proposed 7% cut to public education
funding.
2.
Yet schools for Deaf, Blind, and Severely
Physically Disabled are facing an 85% budget
cut.
3.
The 85% proposed cut goes against the New York
constitution: "Neither the credit nor the money of the State shall be
given or loaned to or in aid of any association, corporation or private
undertaking. This section shall not, however, prevent the legislature from
making such provision for the education and support of the blind, the deaf and
dumb, and juvenile delinquents, as to it may seem proper.” (NYS Constitution,
Act VII)
4.
The proposed funding cuts will not save the state
money. Rather, more money will be requested when the budget is ratified. By
taking cost-efficient centralized resources provided by 4201 schools for the
Deaf, a floodgate of litigation, services, and requests from school districts
and parents will be opened.
It may be a good idea to address each citizen’s concerns directly
rather than sending form letters that have incorrect, irrelevant information
plastered all over them.
All
eyes across America are on New York’s legislative session, and I join millions
of Americans in strongly objecting to your proposed elimination of funding for
the 4201 Schools for the Deaf. Once again, please reconsider your
proposed cuts that affect the 4201 schools for the Deaf, and take the cuts off
the table. Do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Sean
Gerlis
National
Association of Deaf Region 1 Board Member
Resident
of West Nyack, Town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York
Deaf
Parent of a Deaf child
CC: President Barack Obama, United States
of America
Reorganizing for America
The entire New York Legislature
New York Democratic Committee
Governor Tim Kaine, National Democratic Committee
National Senate Democrat Committee
President Bobbie Beth Scoggins, National Association of the Deaf
President Ron Stern, Conf of Educators Association of State Schools for the
Deaf
Mr. Claude Stout, TDI, Inc.
California Stakeholders
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Dianne Feinstein
The entire Deaf Community of New York
What a splendid letter Sean had written! He nailed it to the head that there is no equal treatment by the Governor's proposed budget for the 4201 schools. Indeed, the 85% cut is not a fair deal as compared to public schools who only received 7% cut. Don't forget that in 2009-2010, the 4201 schools already suffered a 12.5% reduction (7.7 million) mid-year cut to their funding while public school district were not assessed a mid-year reduction. (source:
http://4201schoolsassociation.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/4201_testimony_packet_2-15-2011_color.pdf
Naturally, I was disappointed when receiving such letter from the Governor since he did not take the time to address the 4201 schools individually. He generalized his message that was focused on public school issues which was a completely different territory.
Also, the Governor's proposal is senseless that it doesn't really save money on the long run knowing how the school districts will have to choke up the money to cover interpreters, Teacher of the Deaf (probably itinerant), speech therapists, audiologist, etc. for every Deaf student especially in rural areas that are located mostly in upstate New York. The schools districts are already broke so there is no way they can afford these expenses let alone to send the students to 4201 schools. We also have to emphasize that it is not good for these students to experience isolation in mainstream programs that they get to be separated from their Deaf peers. See my previous
vlog (subtitled) that addressed these concerns.
On Wednesday, March 2nd, it was a Legislative Advocacy Day when I was
part of the 4201 team of students, parents and teachers who met with
nearly 80 members of the New York State Assembly and Senate. It was our
goal to convince them that proposed changes in New York's 2011-12 budget
will dramatically hurt Deaf, blind and severely physically disabled
students who currently attend New York's 4201 schools. In my team, we
visited Assemblymen Mark Johns and Christopher Friend and they signed a letter committing that they will protect the 4201
schools. I am proud of the students who did an excellent job explaining
to them why it is crucial to support 4201 schools. We also visited
assistants to Pat Gallivan and Thomas O'Mara that they got to listen to
us and they will convey our messages to the senators so I hope they will
be passionate enough to advocate for 4201 schools. (update: Pat Gallivan confirmed his support for 4201 schools, see letter below).
After e-mailing to all legislators, I got several responses from them as you can see here:
A personal response from Senator Jim Alesi:
Thank
you for contacting me. I would like you to know that I have already
circulated a letter to my fellow senators. We are steadfastly opposed to
the governor's proposal! If you know Dr. Mowl from RSD, he will
assure you that I am one of his strongest advocates. I will see to it
that you get a copy of my letter opposing the governor's proposal AND I
will hopefully see you on Thursday.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Then I got another response from his staff:
Dear Ms. DiGi,
First, let me introduce myself, my name is Jill Joannette, I am a
senior staff member for Senator Alesi, in his Albany office. I
apologize for any delay in responding to your email. Please know that
Senator Aleis is also very concerned about the proposed merger of the
4201 schools. Senator Alesi has circulated a sign-on letter to his
colleagues and has sent it to Governor Cuomo as well as Senate Majority
Leader Skelos to ask for the states appropriation for 4201 schools to be
reinstated. For your information I have attached a copy of this
letter.
I have spoke with Heather Evans at Hinman Straub,
which is the lobbying firm helping to coordinate tomorrows
rally. There will be an opportunity to speak at the event being held in
the "Well" of the Legislative Office Building (LOB). I would recommend
contacting Ms. Evans for additional information as well as to register
if you would like to address the group. Unfortunately, there will not
be an opportunity to address the Senate or Assembly on the chamber
floors, however, Senators as well as Assemblymembers will be in
attendance at the event being held at the "Well" . I have also put this
event on Senator Alesi's calendar and he hopes to attend, should he be
out of budget negotiations.
Senator Alesi would like to welcome you to either come to our
office in room 512 LOB tomorrow for a meeting, or he would be glad to
meet with you around 11 AM "Off The Floor", meaning outside of the
senate chamber. Please advise me as to which would work best for your
schedule.
Should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate
to contact me, I would be more than glad to assist. We look forward to
your visit tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Jill Joannette
Here is the copy of the letter:
It has been confirmed that I am on the Senator's calendar and they will be meeting me and my children tomorrow at 11:00 AM.
In addition, I am certainly pleased about getting responses from NY legislators such as Assembly Members Michelle Schimel, Teresa Sayward, Joseph Morelle and Mark Johns and Senators Joe Robach, Pat Gallivan and Joseph Addabbo. (see below)
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| (she also responded to Sheri Farhina and Marla Hatrak who are from California!) | | |
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I will be circulating a sign on letter to Governor Cuomo with my
Assembly
colleagues urging him to protect New York State's 4201 schools for the
blind, deaf, and severely disabled.
The current Executive Budget Proposal eliminates most direct
State support of these schools while shifting the financial support to
local school districts. This will amount to a loss of $98 million in
direct state aid for these 4201 schools. This is unacceptable.
Thank you for writing,
Michelle Schimel
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From Teresa Sayward:
Ms. DiGiovanni,
I have no idea how this budget is going to shake out! The Governor isn't
saying much just that we will have more details after his Commissions
reports which are just coming out and he issues his 30 day amendments. I
appreciate the overall importance of these schools for the individuals,
their families and their communities. The debate will be strenuous.
You can be sure I will work with the Governor!
Teresa
Teresa R. Sayward
Assemblywoman, 113th District
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