The long-standing tension between Cornell and the greater Ithaca community has reached a peak in recent years with the Make Cornell Pay campaign. This campaign, launched in 2023, aimed to pressure Cornell into voluntarily giving money to the Ithaca community, to make up for not paying any property taxes. Last fall, the Ithaca Teachers Association, or ITA, the teachers union in Ithaca, resurrected the campaign. This time, however, the community is asking Cornell to voluntarily contribute a greater sum to the Ithaca City School District, or ICSD, which has struggled with underfunding for years.
Cornell gives ICSD less money per student than other comparable universities give to their local school districts. In August, Cornell upped its contribution to $650,000 annually. In contrast, Princeton University contributed $2.75 million in 2023 to Princeton Public Schools, despite having a smaller school district. This represents roughly $732 per student, compared to Cornell’s $127 per student, as calculated by ITA.
Ithaca teachers are severely underpaid and overworked, as Ithaca High School’s newspaper The Tattler has documented for years. In an interview with ITA President Kathryn Cernera, she shared that — as a result of pay and overwork — teacher retention has dropped in recent years, with only 57% of teachers tenured currently, compared to 85% in 2015. “It wasn’t uncommon to see teachers that really really cared about their students move to a different school district because the pay here simply wasn’t enough,” said Surya Nawiana, IHS ’22 and Cornell ’26. An increase in Cornell’s contribution would help to pay teachers more, keep programs running, control class sizes and provide students with resources essential for their education
As a Cornell student who grew up in Ithaca, the campaign for additional contributions from Cornell and higher pay for teachers is deeply personal for me. The teachers I had in grade school gave me everything I have today, and many of them I’m still in contact with years after graduating from Ithaca High School, or IHS. They were more than just teachers to me; they were my friends, greatest supporters and mentors.
For many other students, Ithaca teachers did even more to change their lives. Our teachers regularly went above and beyond their job descriptions, serving as guidance counselors, babysitters, tutors and more. Teachers who had lunch duty — which technically just involves supervising student behavior — would sit with students, give them advice, and help them with homework. They would provide this attention even for students in classes that weren’t their own — and comfort them when in need.
Additionally, as a student in the ICSD, I often saw teachers bringing things for their students using money out of their own pocket. Often, kids who were still hungry after lunch (which was concerningly common when I was in grade school) would ask their teachers for snacks. These teachers — despite being underpaid — would never hesitate to buy food for hungry students. Despite being one of the only support systems for students lacking strong support networks or financial resources — including money for food — at home, these teachers are not given the recognition and dignity they deserve, with wages lower than many surrounding districts despite Ithaca’s high cost of living.
As a result of these low wages, many of my own teachers had to commute from surrounding towns because they couldn’t afford to live in Ithaca on their salaries. “Yes, Cornell may provide job opportunities, but it also shuts teachers out from living near the schools that they teach at,” said Nawiana. After already long workdays, these commutes further added to the exhaustion. This is unacceptable: teachers should be paid enough to be able to afford to live in the city they work in.
Cornell has a responsibility to give back to the school district and help alleviate the underfunding that’s leading to such low wages. In addition to Cornell not paying property taxes, ICSD gets less financial support from the state because Cornell is here. New York State’s Foundation Aid formula calculates school funding based on student needs (like the number of English Language Learners or students living in poverty) and the community’s overall wealth, based on expected property taxes. However, the formula doesn’t account for tax exemptions, falsely inflating Ithaca’s wealth. The ITA has argued that because Cornell owns a vast amount of tax-exempt property, the ICSD receives significantly less funding than it should. According to the Common Council, if Cornell paid property taxes at the same rate as Ithacans, it would have owed $46 million to ICSD last year, compared to the voluntary $650,000 contribution. The Foundation Aid currently provides $38.4 million annually to ICSD. This is not enough for the district, and teachers are the ones being most affected by it.
Cornell itself would benefit from better-funded local schools. When faculty are considering university positions, they look at the town’s schools to make sure their kids recieve high-quality education. As such, more ICSD funding would decrease teacher turnover, improve educational outcomes and lead to better Cornell employee retention and attraction. Moreover, Cornell would benefit from having a better, more cooperative relationship with the town and students, in contrast to the current, hostile and adversarial relationship between Ithaca and Cornell.
It’s for all these reasons that ICSD alums demand that Cornell contribute more to Ithaca City Schools. Tania Hao, IHS ’24 and Cornell ’28, said, “It doesn’t make sense that a university that prides itself on its welcoming community pays nearly nothing to the community that surrounds it.” This disconnect between the Cornell community and the rest of Ithaca is the root of the problem: Students spend very little time “off the hill” and don’t see themselves as part of a larger community. They have little interest in advocating for things like funding for local public schools. When I asked Cernera what students can do to help the ITA with this struggle, she suggested getting involved with the community and reminding Cornell decision-makers “how vital a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with the community is.”
For far too long, Ithaca teachers have had to fight for a living wage because of Cornell’s greed. Cornell has a responsibility to Ithaca and ICSD, to support the community that gives Cornell everything. Now, it’s up to the Cornell community to stand for Ithaca and their peers. This is for all the teachers who changed our lives. We’ll never stop fighting for you like you fought for us.
Hannah Shvets ’27 is writing on behalf of ICSD Alums for Teachers. She was a member of IHS’s The Tattler Editorial Board for 3 years, serving as Photography Editor and Arts Editor. She contributed to aforementioned articles about ICSD, as well as writing about other school issues like the sexual harassment policy and campus military recruitment. At Cornell, she is a member of Cornell YDSA, working on campaigns related to stronger labor protections, housing reform and immigration. She can be reached at [email protected].
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