New York State Assemblyman Tom Alfano was pleased with what he termed "a great start" for Elmont and Franklin Square in its school aid package, unveiled in Albany this past week. According to Governor George Pataki's proposal, the Franklin Square School District would receive a record breaking amount of aid to the tune of $3.86 million, a $111,000 increase from last year. The Elmont Union Free School District would realize a $225,000 increase, raising its total to $12,496,000.

"I was very pleased with the Governor's announcement," Alfano said. "I spoke with him after the address and expressed my thanks for his commitment. We have some challenges in the next few months and I believe we can meet them. Make no mistake. This is a great starting point."

Alfano noted that Elmont and Franklin Square have received record aid packages for the last five years. "Clearly the priority is education, not only in my district, but throughout the state. After the Governor's State of the State address, I discussed with him at the Governor's Mansion that education is a priority and that our schools are meeting the challenges we've set out for them. We have to be a partner with them and give the resources to fulfill their education mission. The Governor's budget is a step in the right direction," he added.

Alfano was a member of the state budget conference committee last session where a great deal of spending priorities is dealt with in the state budget. "I've set out my priorities for the district. In the next few weeks, I'll be attending hearings and advocating for some amendments to the budget document," Alfano concluded.

The governor's proposal is part of a three-part process, said Assemblyman Alfano's Chief of Staff Scott Cushing. After the Governor proposed the budget, the first part of the process, the New York State Legislature must review it and make determinations as to whether legislators feel comfortable with what the Governor has put forth. The legislature will ultimately pass the budget. The last act of the process calls for the Governor to sign the budget into law.

"The Governor put together a plan in which our local schools are going to receive record shattering aid," Cushing said. "The important part of this is the fact that this [the Governor's budget proposal] is just the first act of the play. The legislature is going to look at this and may very well add more money to school aid. A lot of that would probably be determined in the next few weeks."

According to Cushing, investing school aid funds into transportation, technology and class size reduction will be looked into. In the meantime, though, the school aid package that was part of Governor Pataki's budget proposal has been received well by Assemblyman Alfano. "No matter what happens here, our local schools are already a step ahead. There are many schools throughout the state that are receiving the same amount of aid as they did last year," Cushing said.