SENATE AND ASSEMBLY PASS BUDGET RESOLUTIONS

 

 

            The Senate and Assembly passed budget resolutions this week staking out their respective positions regarding the State Budget for 2001-2002.  The education budgets for each house delivered some surprises, the principal surprise being the two-year $3.4 billion aid increase package proposed by the Assembly.  The following is a brief summary of highlights of the education budget proposed by each house.  We will attempt to analyze each proposal in coming weeks as to its effect on Small City School Districts. 

 

Assembly Education Budget Resolution

 

(1)               Eliminates charter schools stimulus fund and federal funding;

(2)               Increases support for public schools by $1.7 billion over 2000-2001 levels;

(3)               Increases Summer School Aid by $5.4 million;

(4)               Increases ERSSA Aid by $7.4 million;

(5)               Increases LEP Aid by $12.8 million;

(6)               Increases Building Aid by $374 million;

(7)               Rejects executive proposal to fund Building Aid on a capped priority basis;

(8)               Rejects executive proposal to change the Building Aid ratio choice;

(9)               Rejects the executive proposal to impose an assumed amortization schedule retroactively on building aid payments;

(10)           Allows public and private excess cost aids to increase by $123 million;

(11)           Allows BOCES Aid to increase by $31 million;

(12)           Allows Transportation Aid to increase by $58.7 million;

(13)           $275 million increase for universal pre-K programs;

(14)           $85 million increase for class size reduction programs for grades K through 3;

(15)           $7.3 million increase for full-day kindergarten conversion;

(16)           $34 million increase for instructional computer technology aid;

(17)           $34 million increase for minor maintenance and repair aid;

(18)           $25 million increase for extended school day/school violence prevention programs;

(19)           Proposes a new Core Operating Aid, which would consolidate Tax Equalization Aid, Tax Effort Aid, Operating Aid, Tax Limitation Aid, Extraordinary Needs Aid, and Operating Standards Aid and which would use a revised .25 weighting based on free and reduced price lunch instead of PEP test scores.  The Core Operating Aid would include a regional cost factor and a minimum increase in the first year from 2% to 4% adjusted by wealth, and 4% to 8% in the second year adjusted by wealth, and by a revised need index for districts with the lowest wealth and highest student poverty.  There would be a first-year cap on growth of 5.5% except for districts with ENA percent greater than 90% which districts would be capped at 12% and in the second year Core Operating Aid caps would be eliminated;

(20)           A restoration of $52.4 million for Teachers’ Support Aid;

(21)           A restoration of $20 million for teacher resource and training centers;

(22)           A restoration of $10 million for professional development grants;

(23)           A restoration of $10 million and an addition of $5 million for mentor teacher-internship programs;

(24)           A restoration of $12.5 million for aid to small city school districts, rejecting the Governor’s proposal to eliminate the freeze (Hurd Aid);

(25)           Rejection of the additional funding for charter schools and for the school-wide performance initiative contained in the Executive Budget;

(26)           Maintenance of the current accelerated aid payment schedule so that districts are not affected by deferred receipt of resources resulting the from the STAR payment schedule;

(27)           Rejection of the Executive Proposal to cap school districts’ annual spending increases;

(28)           Reprogramming of the Executive Proposal of $300,000 for the office of facilities management in order to improve efficiency in the project approval process;

(29)           Increases in energy costs are to be excluded from austerity budget cap calculations;

(30)           Executive’s proposal to authorize SED to deduct overpayment of EPE funds from aid to Gloversville CSD and Utica CSD in fiscal year 2004-2005 is rejected.  Executive’s proposal to cap school districts’ spending is rejected.

 

Senate Education Budget Resolution

 

The Senate School Aid proposal includes an increase of $925 million (6.7%) over last year as well as a modified “Flex Aid” proposal.  The Senate’s education package includes the following:

 

(1)               TEACH 2 Program for pension incentives for teachers of retirement age to stay in the classroom and eliminates penalties for retired teachers who return, among other things;

(2)               Modify Flex Aid by consolidating 16 formulas and programs into three funding streams, eliminating the transition adjustment cap and providing a minimum 2% increase in Flex Aid for all districts with special pupil weighting for students in poverty and in rural areas and providing a regional cost adjustment;

(3)               Rejects the Executive Budget freeze on BOCES Aid for an increase of $31.4 million;

(4)               Rejects the Executive Budget proposal to consolidate public and private excess cost aid;

(5)               Rejects the Executive’s School wide Performance Incentive and recommends performance accountability school support PASS for an increase of $57 million;

(6)               Proposes a school aid data base freeze on May 15^th; any data changes causing aid increases thereafter will be treated as occurring in the following school year;

(7)               Modified Flex Aid would include Operating Aid, Tax Effort Aid, Tax Equalization Aid, Transition Adjustment Caps, Gifted and Talented Aid, Minor Maintenance Aid, Extraordinary Needs Aid, Operating Standards Aid, Educationally Related Support Services Aid, Limited English Proficiency Aid, and Universal Pre-Kindergarten Aid.  Two other aid categories will be Instructional Materials Aid, (Text Book Aid, Library Materials Aid and Computer Software Aid) and Extended Day/School Violence Prevention (Extended Day and Advantage Schools Aid);

(8)               Building Aid Reforms recommended are by the Executive are rejected in part and accepted in part.  The delay of payment of debt service from June 15^th to July is accepted; the assumed amortization schedule is accepted except that the retroactive portion of the recommendation is confined to projects approved after July 1, 1998 by the voters, and for earlier projects, when the financing is neutral or results in a present value savings.  The executive proposals for a priority-based selection process for building projects and elimination of the aid ratio choice are rejected;

(9)               Restores funding for Special Aid for small city school districts (Hurd Aid);

(10)           Restores funding for Teacher Support Aid;

(11)           Restores funding for attendance improvement/drop out prevention;

(12)           To the extent funds are available, provide non-component BOCES districts aid for the purpose of providing occupational education (OCCED Aid).

 

The significance of these one-house budget resolutions is that each house has established a basis for settlement negotiations with the other house and with the Governor’s office.  In past years, the Conference Committee on the Budget would be quickly formed and budget negotiations would commence at once.  This year, due to several factors, including the Campaign For Fiscal Equity decision and the upcoming gubernatorial elections in 2002, ensure that reaching settlement on the various budget issues will not be easy.  Legislators are indicating that approval of the State Budget could take more than five months, absent some unanticipated development.  The impact of that delay in passing the State Budget is well appreciated by the school boards and superintendents who have to grapple with development of their own budgets, almost as if in the dark.  Furthermore, the Senate has estimated that well over $1.1 billion dollars in additional revenues over the Governor’s estimates will be available from state budget surpluses in 2000-2001 and 2002-2002.  The Assembly estimate of additional surpluses over Governor’s estimates is in excess of $2 billion.  Much is at stake, therefore, in budget negotiations this year and the process will undoubtedly protracted and hotly contested.

 

 

DATES TO REMEMBER

 

March 27^th  
Fort Orange Club (9:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.)
Albany, New York
Legislative Breakfast and Seminar
Association Annual Breakfast with Senator Kuhl and Assemblyman Sanders and Deputy Commissioner Kadamus
Seminar on Project SAVE, Teacher Shortages and Charter Schools

 

March 28^{th (9:30 a.m.)}
NYSCOSS Offices, Elk Street, Albany, New York
Meeting with NYSCOSS and NYSSBA on Charter School Reform

 

April   (TBA) (3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
Mid-Hudson Regional Roundtable Meeting of Small City District Board Members and Superintendents; Eastern Regional Meeting to discuss current issues

 

May 31^st  (12:00 p.m. -  2:30 p.m.)
Offices of   DeGraff-Foy, Albany, New York
Board Meeting – Spring Meeting of Association Board of Directors

 

August 12^th and 13^th
Otesaga Hotel, Cooperstown, New York
Annual Conference, Annual Meeting of Membership and Board