LIA: Schools generate $35B in economy

Long Island's schools generate nearly $35 billion per year in economic activity, or one-quarter of all goods and services produced in the region, a business group has found.

A new study from the Long Island Association estimated that colleges and public elementary and secondary schools spend more than $17.4 billion a year. Those expenditures, which include employee salaries and supply purchases, generate an additional $17.4 billion in economic activity.

Education spending also creates 260,851 jobs, notably in manufacturing, real estate and financial services.

"Besides its crucial role in training the workforce of the future, Long Island's educational sector is a significant economic entity in and of itself," said Pearl Kamer, the study's author and chief economist for the association. "Education and health care are among the region's largest sectors."

The 24-page study released this week, the third in a series of four, details the financial impact schools have on the economy and their role in worker training and business development. The final study, on charities and other not-for-profit groups, is due out in June.

LIA president Kevin Law said, "Investing in our educational system is critically important to Long Island. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't be smart about how those dollars are spent, because we all know there's going to be less of them," he added, referring to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's proposed cuts in state aid to public schools and SUNY.

The region's public elementary and secondary schools, as a group, spent $10.7 billion to teach 460,235 students in 2010-11. Those expenditures, which exclude building projects and private schools, had a ripple effect through the economy that led to an additional $9.4 billion in activity and 109,825 jobs.

Colleges and universities, both public and private, spent $6.8 billion to teach more than 173,000 students in 2009-10, the most recent available data. Those expenditures had a ripple effect of $8 billion and 151,026 jobs.

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, speaking to state lawmakers last month, said Stony Brook University and the other SUNY campuses are "one of the most significant economic engines of our time."

The study was paid for by the New York Community Bank Foundation, Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education and HSBC Bank.