(ALBANY) - Despite deep cuts to programs triggered by the first year ofNew YorkState’s Property Tax Cap, Voters gave Students and their local Schools their strong backing by adopting 96% of School Budgets, the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Union reports.

Voters acrossNew Yorkapproved 597 School Budgets, with 24 budgets going down in defeat on Tuesday. Of the approximately 50School Districtsthat exceeded the Property Tax Cap, Voters in 24 districts returned a 60% Super-Majority, passing those budgets despite tax levies greater than 2%. Based on its preliminary count, NYSUT estimates the Statewide passage rate at 96%.

NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi said Voters recognized thatSchool Districts- and Teachers - sacrificed in order to put together responsible budgets. And, he said, Voters know that, despite some political rhetoric, the overwhelming number ofSchool Districtsprovide Students with a first-rate education.

“New Yorkers see their Public Schools are doing a terrific job, producing excellent results amid budgetary challenges resulting from the Undemocratic Tax Cap and from the State’s failure to invest in Public Schools,” he said.

Iannuzzi also noted that, despite this year’s $805 million funding increase, three consecutive years of devastating budget cuts by Albany have slashed State support for Public Education by more than $3 billion.

Iannuzzi said Schools were buoyed by: Last week’s U.S. News and World Report’s issue ranking New York second in the Nation in its number of “Gold Medal” Schools; A report by Education Week ranking New York No. 3 nationally, based on six educational measures; and New York’s domination in Advanced Placement courses and the Intel Science Talent Search competition.

“Together, these honors underscore what most New Yorkers inherently know: Dedicated Teachers and hard-working Students - when supported by parents and their communities - deliver incredibly high levels of achievement,” he said.

In those places where School Budgets went down, Iannuzzi said NYSUT would analyze the votes to see if tax increases caused by State-aid shortfalls or if anger over cuts to programs and staff were responsible.

“Unfortunately, there are places where support for education is so strong, community members may have looked at larger class sizes, cuts to AP Courses and Teacher Layoffs stemming from the Tax Cap and State Aid Cuts, and voted against budgets precisely because they didn’t want to impose deep cuts,” Iannuzzi said.“The anger and frustration atAlbany’s failure to meet its funding obligations are real.”

Nonetheless, Iannuzzi praised Voters in local communities which supported School Budgets, especially where drastic cuts in State Aid made tax increases almost unavoidable.

“We’re thankful that so many local communities accepted the extra burden placed on them by the Legislature’s failure to adequately fund education,” he said.“Going forward, we will work with those communities to ensure thatAlbanymeets its obligation to guarantee every child a quality education.”

NYSUT Executive Vice President Andrew Pallotta noted State Funding for Public Education is $1.1 billion less than in 2008-09.

Meanwhile, the tax cap is crippling the ability of local communities to decide locally how much of their own resources they want to invest in their own students and schools.

“Allowing forty-percent of the voters to override the wishes of the majority is wrong,” Pallotta said.“Our Students deserve better. The State needs to do its fair share and stop passing along the pain to Students and local Taxpayers in order to please the wealthiest and most privileged in our State.”

NYSUT -New YorkState’s largestUnion- represents more than 600,000 Teachers, School-Related Professionals, Academic and Professional Faculty in Higher Education, Professionals in Education and Health Care and Retirees. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA) and the AFL-CIO.