Update -Good News!

stanmerrell — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:36:30 +0000

From Mary Daley:

“Here is latest update and thank you letter to all of your petitioners. We are so grateful!

As of today, with great relief, we can tell you that the final New York State budget reduces our funding by 10% rather than the 50% cut announced the week before last. This amount will mean that we have to cut some student numbers in each of the schools and will have to eliminate some non-essentials, like T-shirts, etc. – but I am confident that we can maintain the same quality of programming for both students and staff. Of course, we would have loved to have 100% of last year’s initial funding, but understand that this is part of the “shared sacrifice” of the time we are in – and that we need to be thankful that we have only the 10%.

This funding restoration was accomplished through the hard work of the students and staff who have been and will be part of the schools. Your voices were heard loud and clear – and I am hearing from the State Division of the Budget, the Legislature and even a few in the Governor’s office that they were really surprised by the numbers and the deep feelings generated by so many people associated with the program. I think that many of them realize how truly unique and valuable this partnership is with our greatest artists – and how wonderful their dedication is to the development of the next generation of artists.

In just two weeks, over six new Facebook groups have been developed and over 2000 members (students, staff, alums, etc.) have written, called and Twittered about this to everyone who will listen. A parent blog with a petition was also started and grew by leaps and bounds. With the help of the New York State Alliance for Arts Education (they immediately put up an advocacy alert, sample letter, email addresses and suggestions) they were able to write to Legislative leaders, their individual legislators and the Governor – and then they started to call! Now, they are on to a new advocacy effort to get a bill passed soon that will raise fees in the State Cultural Education Account to stabilize our funding source and we are hoping that supporters will again let their voices be heard. With you and your colleagues as tomorrow’s leaders, we have good reason to be optimistic! Check out the new message from NYSAAE at http://www.nysaae.org/Support_NYSSSA.htm

At the same time, our “high-powered” advocates were working the phones and emails – and we owe so much to you! – Damian, Heather, Jenifer, Daniel, all of the dancers who created a virtual spider web of contacts! We also had Lanford Wilson, John Ashton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dan Futterman, Brady McDonald – and others who also called, wrote, etc.

We are overwhelmed by this! I am confident that next year, not only will we not be cut again, maybe we can get back to our 08-09 funding level

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for all that you have done. Please pass this message on to the rest of the wonderful parents that signed the petition and we will keep in touch with any news.”

Save the NY State Summer School of the Arts!

admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:47:40 +0000

Background:
For 39 years New York State Summer School of the Arts has served students from every area of the State who represent New York’s economic, cultural and racial diversity, identifying tomorrow’s leaders in the arts and providing them with intensive pre-professional training and career development opportunities.

Over 19,000 students have participated in this legislative initiative. The program’s success has been demonstrated by former students’ achievements with top professional companies all over the world and individual testimonials documented in yearly alumni surveys.

The State Division of Budget has advised the NYSSSA office that funding has been reduced by 50% and that the program office must begin planning immediately for retrenchment for the coming year. This means that the NYSSSA will have to close at least 4 of the 8 schools this coming summer. The NYSSSA program office has requested approval of a spending plan of 1,745,000 – representing a 0% increase from the 2008-09 plan. In the past 39 years, there have been very few increases in funding from the State. The cost of operating the eight NYSSSA schools is shared by State revenue funding and student tuition.

The unique partnership between the State, New York’s most prominent artists, artistic companies and cultural institutions, and parents has kept program costs to a minimum. NYSSSA continues to ensure that the programs are still accessible to all New York State students, as per the original legislative intent.

The program’s funding needs are modest compared to other State initiatives and the return on our tax dollar is great, developing tomorrow’s leaders in the arts and entertainment industry.

Petition:
We, the undersigned, urge Governor Paterson and the NY State Legislature to restore funding authority to the New York State Summer School of the Arts to ensure the operation of all eight schools. We encourage their support of Assembly Bill A06783 and Senate Bill S3640, which will stabilize the cultural education account by increasing local filing fees. These additional fees will provide sufficient funding for NYSSSA, one of the programs using revenue from this account.

Stan Merrell,

Kimberly Gray,

Peter Anvelt,

Dianne Kober,

stacy Leyland,

Donald P. Kober,

Debbie Lloyd,

Tammy Pulver,

Gene Koons,

Mike Sittniewski,

Kimberly Kober,

Lisa R Ploof,

Lynn Fish,

bill ribas,

Chris Howk,

Gail Pratt,

Jessica Hill,

Brian McCabe,

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Jeanine Thiemel,

Kenneth A. Wolkin,

Bill Connors,

Craig P. Kober,

Kate Daniels,

Dave Mirabella,

Laura O\'Connell,

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Victoria Mattiuzzo,

Tyler Budde,

joe ricotta,

William S. Merrell,

Hillary Kody,

Kirsten Frisina,

Catherine Gannon,

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Mike Necci,

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Chloe Fox,

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Dan Westlund,

Paul Daniels,

Leah Pope,

Kate Khanna,

Gracie Martin,

John Compton,

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Terence Camp,

David Reed,

Sophie Schulman,

sue kidera,

Taylor Gray,

Tessa Raden,

Danielle Scalera,

Brenda Lipton,

Steve Cohen,

Emily Jackson,

Tyler Parker,

Colin Kizer,

Rebecca Maben,

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gary wurzer,

Olivia Burton,

Yayoi Asoma,

Megan Ulrich,

Sara Stevens,

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rebecca hornbeck,

Krista Dixon,

Tova Holmes,

Megan St. John,

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Megan Scinta,

Deborah Friedes,

Chloe Patterson,

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Jonathan Martin,

Frank Pesko,

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Erin Place,

Mason Lee,

Danielle Garfinkel,

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Juliet Hinely,

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Chelsea Calnan,

Matthew Keeney,

Henry Fernau,

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Miles Fox,

Corrina Goutos,

Sierra Carroll,

Kate Duffy,

Megan Wachs,

Deirdre Nolan,

Devin O\'Connell,

Hannah Merrill,

Danielle M. Cable,

Julia Merrell,

Molly Purcell,

Kayla Argyle,

Elizabeth Cote,

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Eliana Teran,

Rachel Susser,

Chelsea S. Yamada,

Danielle Suhrland,

Christian Tribastone,

Isadora B. Kohon- Teran,

K.C. Alvey,

Mary Rynasko,

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Elizabeth Cone,

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Kristi Relyea,

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Jacqueline Connor,

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Katherine Hurley,

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Stephanie Nicole DeCross,

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Megan Wirth,

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M. David Shemancik,

Sarah DeStefano,

John P. McEneny,

Maya Malaviya,

Douglas A Mcavoy,

Erin Tower,

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Anthony DiFroscia,

Celina Leroy,

michelle mahlstadt,

Heather Hummel,

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Phoebe McCann,

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wendy decker,

Gabrielle Tuite,

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Debbie Moon,

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Justine Raymond,

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Lindsay Chasse,

Katie Wallace,

Cory Crose,

Elisa J. Peebles,

Joyce Chan,

Molly Forgang,

Lee Coletti,

Jessie DeSalvia,

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Stephanie Wolf,

Alexandra Ortega,

Jennifer Myers,

Darren Kang,

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Lindsey Yacobush,

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Ben Viagas,

Josh Redman,

Jonathan Smith,

Kaitlyn Raitz,

Emily Moore,

Elizabeth Weinbloom,

Sara Sania El Houssieny,

Lisa Schlosberg,

Nina Caldas,

Kaitlin Lagudi,

rebecca Levy,

Katy Hayes,

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James Meslin,

Nora J. Williams,

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Lauren Barchi,

Samantha Caesar,

Anna Costello,

Corinne Kober,

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Christina Wagner,

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Gene Forman,

danielle mee,

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Matt Rossi,

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Anthony Colon,

Lynne Panzica,

Michael Nameishi,

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Meredith Unger,

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Anna-Maria Savolainen,

Sarah MacDougal,

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Andrea Martin,

LiLu Funkenbusch,

Sheila Elario,

Lexi Minogue,

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Amanda Spinella,

Jerome J. O\'Neill,

Lydia J. Nightingale,

Patrick Burke,

Pat Scalera,

Caren Lanigan,

Lydia Kubiniec,

Mary Madeja,

Adam Bidwell,

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Anne H. Wilcox,

Veronica Keszthelyi,

Amanda Hall,

Kristen Tripp Kelley,

Allison J. Bourquin,

Gary Foti,

Elizabeth Young,

Kate Olena,

Tim Socha,

Annija Kerno,

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Patricia Contino,

Wendy Lasher,

Skip Greer,

Kathryn Moroney,

Leah Riklin,

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Jennifer Travlos,

Paul Kober,

MARNI RABINOWITZ,

Emma Johnson,

Michelle Millier,

ERIN ALVEY,

Marika McCoola,

Randi Winterman,

Sarah Young,

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Kara Cregin,

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Susan Hugelmeyer,

Chris Cole,

Lynne Messana,

Joshua H. Ring,

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Danielle Smith,

Maggie Lloyd- Ewing,

Michael Karelis,

Christine Monlea,

erin walsh,

Lindsay Bennett,

Nicole Arcangel,

Chris Newmiller,

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Corey Cerullo,

Micahel Chernoff,

Shenelle Bates,

Anne Manzella,

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Kelsey Boyce,

Gregory K. Williams,

Emily Gallivan,

Michal Harel,

Gene Kim,

Ben Winter,

Seth Moore,

Sarah Sixt,

Laura Mole,

Jennifer Girone,

Andrew J Farkas,

Gabrielle Toscano,

Adriana Lee,

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Mia Branco,

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August Matrisch,

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Caitlin Bartow,

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Debra Burger,

Katherine Marino,

Rachel Escolar,

Thomas Neumann,

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Alexandra Evans,

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Martin York,

Olivia Rerek,

Kira Munger,

Danielle Bouchard,

David Blumenthal,

Linda Graves,

Faustino F. Solis III,

Margaret Rich,

Alexa Blumenstock,

Maya Colbert,

Laura King,

Chandra Suresh,

Caitlin Dieck,

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Mackenzie Lynch,

Ellen Kocian,

Keelin,

Chantal Lichota,

Meghan Burke,

Ian Whitt,

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Cindy DeFelice,

Cathy DeFelice,

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April Heinzerling,

Marion DeFelice,

James DeFelice,

Joel Riorden,

Kong InBoune,

Sister Concetta DeFelice,

Judy Shomper,

Emily Wilkerson,

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Mary Rachal,

Cecily White,

Michael Spinelli,

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Megann Rice,

Michelle Weiner,

Vicki Casarett,

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Lindsey Strife,

Liz Law,

Diane Spacher,

Arielle Rosenfeld,

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Ian Levy,

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Ross Triner,

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Ela Dugan,

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Save The Summer!

Update -Good News!

Save the NY State Summer School of the Arts!