As a result of the New York State Board of Regents officially banning the use of all names and images related to indigenous people by school districts today, Assemblyman Matt Slater (R,C-Yorktown) is calling on the State Education Department (SED) to reimburse school districts to make the change. Slater has authored legislation (A.4966), which is also co-sponsored by several assemblymembers, that requires SED to reimburse school districts that are mandated to change their mascots, logo, name and imagery.

“This is an unfunded mandate by the state, and thus, the state should cover the costs associated with these changes so that school districts do not have their budgets compromised for a decision they did not make,” Slater said. “Few goals are more noble than providing a world-class education for our children and that requires adequate resources at the classroom level. The costs of creating new logos, signage and uniforms for countless sports teams are significant and should be fully funded by the State Education Department so that educational resources are not compromised.”