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Vargas "Encouraged" By State Aid Increase For Education

Rochester School Superintendent Bolgen Vargas says he is encouraged by the aid levels contained in the new state budget.

The details of the state's overall $1.4 billion increase in education funding were just released Tuesday.

Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle says the Rochester city school district will receive $543 million in state aid in the  upcoming school year, a $32 million increase over the previous year.

Vargas says that when the proposed aid for turnaround efforts is included, he expects total state support to be in line with the district's budget projections.

Morelle says overall, Monroe County school districts will receive about a billion dollars in state aid in the upcoming budget, nearly $65 million more than last year.

A lot of the school aid increase comes from a reduction in the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which was supposed to be temporary when it was enacted in 2009 to help the state deal with its financial problems.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.