Last Chance: Save LI Schools Advocacy Effort

TGIF, Lindenhurst!

Here's your "Last Chance" reminder that Save Long Island Schools Advocacy Week on behalf of , and schools across Long Island, comes to a close.

The main purpose of the advocacy effort is to encourage residents to lobby Albany to increase funding for local schools by calling and writing their legislators, according to a report on Newsday.com.

However, the lobbying will continue as long as the , according to organizers and members of a group on Facebook called Save Long Island Schools, which has formed in recent weeks to get its voice heard in Albany.

The focus is to get Albany to hear that Long Island schools need some relief and cannot keep funding schools in upstate New York and New York City because the Island is hurting, too, according to President Laura Chapter.

She added that the more than 5,500 members of the Facebook group would like to see the formula recalculated so more money comes back to Long Island schools instead of being funneled away, especially in this economy.

Bonnie Buckley, an East Islip parent and the group's main organizer, echoed what Chapter has explained at recent Lindenhurst Board of Education meetings.

"Save Long Island Schools is a grassroots movement to force Albany to eliminate that overly burden our schools and to take a good hard look at the funding formula and give our children their fair share, nothing more, nothing less. It's a movement to get as many people as possible to tell our Governor (Andrew Cuomo), that we're tired and we're not going to sit idly by while he destroys our schools," Buckley said in an e-mail.

believes in this group's efforts and has also gotten other Lindenhurst parents, residents and PTA members on board, such as Regina Cuffaro and Ann Marie Thomson.

She's also gotten the Lindenhurst School District to put a link on its website that allows parents and residents to directly e-mail their local legislators, including Assemblyman , Senator and Senator

"The Lindenhurst Board of Education and Central Administration have initiated a fair funding e-mail campaign directed at our representatives in state government. This campaign is intended to address the inequality in New York State aid distributed to local school districts. Please add your voice to the call for equitable funding for Lindenhurst and Long Island," the website read.

In addition, according to Cuffaro, BOE Members Val McKenna and Robert Vitiello and Daniel Street Civic Association President joined them at the group's at state offices in Hauppauge on that served to spotlight the group's advocacy campaign this week.

State Senator Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) and Assemblyman (R-Bay Shore) also attended the rally.

For more information about Save Long Island Schools and the Facebook group's lobbying efforts, click here, and see the accompanying images.

Editor's Note: Don't forget to share your thoughts and concerns about this and the with Lindenhurst Patch on the site in the Comments Section of articles on the topic, on Facebook and Twitter, and by e-mailing barbara.loehr@patch.com with an opinion piece.