Mom's Talk Q&A: How Will School Budget Cuts Impact Our Children, Day-to-Day?

Welcome to our second session of , a new feature on North Fork Patch that is part of a new initiative on our Patch sites to reach out to moms and families.

Our topic up for discussion today is school budget cuts, announced last month by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo. Every North Fork school district will lose money under the recent proposed terms (see table below).

North Fork Patch's very own contributor wonders how these cuts will impact our school-aged children on the ground level, day-to-day. Sandy, 39, is an award-winning journalist and a certified special education and social studies teacher. She currently lives in the remnants of an old Greenport dairy farm with her husband, two daughters (ages 9 and 3), dogs, cat, fish, ferret, and flock of chickens.

"Field trips that haven't been paid for already are gone," Martocchia said. "Are we going to have to fundraise for public schools just as much as private schools do as we move forward?"

Feel free to comment on this subject in the comment boxes below or shout out in the white box located in the upper righthand corner of the home page. Stay tuned for another chat next Wednesday afternoon.

Proposed Cuts for

2011-12