Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today sent a letter to Gov. Cuomo urging him to use the $3 billion windfall New York will receive as a result of the settlement with BNP Paribas to fully restore the education funding that was lost due to the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA). This would require using $1 billion to restore the GEA and then committing the remaining $2 billion to scheduled school aid increases. Hawley considers this issue a high priority due to the fiscal challenges faced by small, rural school districts that do not receive an equitable distribution of state school aid compared to New York City schools.

“Delivering a high quality education to our kids is the key to giving them to best possible future,” said Hawley. “The money we have gained through the Paribas settlement should go to ensuring that our local school districts have the resources they need to provide our kids the best possible education. As a father, this is a very important issue to me and I’ll be working to make sure that our schools get this money and our kids receive the education they deserve.”