The Ithaca Teachers Association called on Cornell University to increase its annual contributions to the school district from $650,000 to $10 million at a rally Wednesday evening on the Ithaca Commons.
The school district is funded largely through property taxes. Cornell, which has an Ithaca campus that takes up 2,300 acres of land, is mostly exempt from paying property taxes because it is a nonprofit institution.
The university has agreements with the city and town to help pay for some key services, including schools. But the teachers union says the district needs more funding, especially in light of recent budget shortfalls. Earlier this year, the district’s first budget proposal failed to pass, requiring schools to cut staffing and equipment costs.
“We face an enormous deficit in our budget that simply should not exist,” said Ithaca Teachers Association President Kathryn Cernera in a statement. “None of these losses would be necessary if Cornell University paid anywhere near its fair share to our community."
Cornell Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina said in a statement that a thriving Ithaca school district is important to the university, which is why it has agreed to contribute $650,000 annually in unrestricted funds to the school district until 2031.
In addition, Malina said the university pays more than $2 million in property taxes for its buildings that are not tax exempt.
The rally supported a resolution introduced to the district's Board of Education earlier this year that would require district Superintendent Luvelle Brown to begin negotiations with the university to increase its annual school district contribution to $10 million.
“My argument is that it would be the right thing to do,” said school board member Jill Tripp, who introduced the resolution. “Cornell and the Ithaca city schools have a symbiotic relationship. We send many students to Cornell. They recruit many of their excellent faculty to come to Ithaca, where their children can receive what I believe is an excellent education. That excellent education is at some risk at this point.”
Officials and advocates in Ithaca have long asked for better financial support from the university for municipal services, including schools, public transit, and infrastructure. Many groups, including the Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America, maintain that past agreements have left residents shortchanged.
Ithaca City Mayor Robert Cantelmo said at the rally that he supported the teachers association’s demands.
“This last budget process was especially difficult for me, watching some of the hard choices that our school district was forced to make,” said Cantelmo. “I'm not a finance expert, but I think the university could probably afford more than they pay several people.”
Last fiscal year, Cornell paid its then-President Martha Pollack over $1.5 million, according to tax filings. She was one of several administrators who earned more that year than the university contributed to the Ithaca school district.