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Assemblyman Sanders,
speaking at the annual Legislative Breakfast on March 25th at
the Fort Orange Club in Albany said that his House had somewhat changed
their attitude about “a good late budget being better than a bad on time
budget.” Given the harsh realities of the Executive Budget and its $1.4
billion cut to education aid, passing a State Budget by the end of April
was imperative. Failing to do so would cause extreme hardship on school
budgets, programs and local taxpayers. He also said that, while they had
hoped for full restoration of these cuts, they may not be able to
accomplish that goal. Senator Saland, new Senate Education Committee
Chairman, and representative of three small cities, Poughkeepsie, Beacon
and Hudson, echoed those sentiments in his remarks and during the question
and answer period that ensued.
Senator Saland also stated
emphatically that the Governor’s proposal to fold excess cost aid into
Operating Aid was not acceptable to the Senate and that the cuts to BOCES
Aid and Transportation Aid, among others, were troublesome. He felt that a
late April budget was “doable” since the negotiations over the first
two week emergency spending bill will be so painful that Legislators will
not want to do another and will proceed directly to budget negotiations.
(As of this writing, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has set April 16th
as his target for wrapping up negotiations and passing the budget.)
Several differences
between the two Legislators in their approaches to restoration became
evident later in the morning when the audience began questioning the
legislators. Assemblyman Sanders characterized expense driven aids as a
promise to schools that would be almost immoral to break. Ladder Aids in
particular must be restored as much as possible. He also said that cuts
cannot be distributed “across the board” and that there must be an
analysis of needs and priorities, recognizing that no increases in state
taxes means higher real property taxes. Senator Saland did not mention
Ladder Aids and emphasized instead possible mandate relief (looking
forward to the Commissioner’s June report on unfunded mandates) along
with Charter School funding reform and Wicks Law reform (raising
thresholds).
Cohoes Superintendent
Charles Dedrick asked whether the cuts in aid could be equalized, so that
the disparity between his 60% aid dependent district which is anticipating
teacher lay-offs and its neighboring districts which are hiring teachers
can be lessened. Assemblyman Sanders indicated that the Assembly would be
looking at this. Senator Saland, however, said that restoration of BOCES,
Transportation and other expense driven aids would leave little to address
this or any other problem. (Then, due to a scheduling conflict the Senator
had to leave at this point.)
Binghamton Board Member
Joan Purtell asked about relief from unfunded or under funded mandates.
Assemblyman Sanders said that “nothing is off the table” yet for
discussion.
Utica Superintendent Dan
Lowengard said that mandate relief will not solve the problems in his
district and that the operating aid formula must be changed. Assemblyman
Sanders replied that with a formula that does not work, cuts must be made
“progressively” and that, unfortunately, contingency budget cap
reform, as recommended by the Association, is essential.
Superintendent Dr. Eva
Joseph of Albany asked about specific Charter School reforms. The
Assemblyman said he did not oppose these schools but that he was in favor
of a moratorium and that they should not be immune from state aid cuts.
Association President and
Beacon Superintendent Vito DiCesare said that his district lost nine
students to Charter Schools but did not “save” anything. This inequity
must be addressed. He also mentioned that hearing officers are making
special education placements in schools not “approved” by SED. His
district receives, therefore, no state aid for these placements. The
Assemblyman agreed that both of these issues needed remedy.
The remainder of the morning
on the 25th was devoted to the NCLB Act. Catherine Brown, the
education guru on Senator Hillary Clinton’s Washington staff, and Pilar
Sokol, NYS School Board’s attorney, shared their expertise on this
increasingly troublesome subject.
Ms. Brown observed that NCLB
was passed to create an environment where higher standards for academic
achievement could be reached. She said that the two basics necessary were
1) broader accountability and 2) increased federal funding. Unfortunately,
with 2 and ½ million private sector jobs lost in the recent past, with
states in a fiscal crisis and with the President pushing for $726 billion
in economic stimulus tax cuts, the fight, which was going on in Washington
on the floor of the U.S. Senate as Ms. Brown was speaking, over the
federal budget will be more difficult than ever. Fortunately, she said,
education, including both NCLB and IDEA, appears to be the only federal
program other than defense likely to be increased.
Ms. Brown said that the
Senator believes that without adequate federal funding schools are “set
up” to fail under NCLB. The result of this failure will be greater
pressure to provide alternatives through vouchers, Charters and the like.
Rome Board Member, current
NYSSBA President and Association Board Member Sandy Lockwood made three
points: 1) employees of “private providers” may not necessarily be
“highly qualified” as required under the Act; 2) special education
classes will often adversely affect the overall school performance; and 3)
the 95% testing requirement is impossible to meet where attendance is
90%(or less) on average.
Ms. Brown was able to comment
hopefully only on Ms. Lockwood’s second point by stating that it may be
dealt with in the IDEA reauthorization bill for 2003-04.
She also stated that Senator
Clinton has tried to preserve those programs most helpful to the urban
schools such as the “math-science partnership” program and that the
funding stream under IDEA, which now goes through the state, is being
studied with the possibility of direct payments to districts being
considered.
Pilar Sokol was the final
speaker of the morning. She addressed the more technical problems
districts were
encountering
under NCLB. Points that were made in her presentation or as answers to
questions from the audience follow:
1.
All teachers are required to be “highly qualified”(HQ) under
NCLB. However, only those paraprofessionals who are paid with Title I
monies are subject to this standard.
2.
If a program which is funded by Title I is “school wide” then
HQ applies to all teaching assistants.
3.
State assessments must have “accommodations” for the disabled
student. Accommodations means those specified in the IEP.
4.
Regulations for children with disabilities using alternate
assessments are out. 98% of these regulations are very good.
5.
NCLB has three proficiency levels which correspond to levels 2, 3,
and 4 of NYS SASS. NCLB therefore incorporates SASS and all children must
be at level 3 or higher by 2012-13.
6.
Schools must make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward the goal
set by the Commissioner. This year the target goal is 125 which will
eventually be raised to 200. This target is set by each state but the NAEP
test is, in effect, an audit to insure that a state has not set its target
too low.
7.
Data on NCLB testing is disaggregated. 95% of students must be
tested; 95% of each sub-group must be tested; and all and each must make
AYP.
8.
It is not known yet how transferring students in high school will
be integrated into accountability standards.
9.
Students with disabilities placed in BOCES programs or at approved
private programs are included in the district scores. It is not known yet
whether students placed by counties will also count.
10.
Alternate assessment students-only ½% can count but a proposed
rule would raise this to 1%.
11.
Whether special education teachers must also be HQ in a
subject matter has yet to be decided and will be addressed in the IDEA
reauthorization bill.
12.
NCLB allows states to define proficiency. NYS has defined it as a
65% score and the feds have approved this.
13.
Public school choice is mandatory under NCLB. Crowded classes are
no excuse to refuse transfer requests unless a health or safety issue is
involved.
The Association filed its
Amicus brief with COA in support of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity on
March 21, 2003. The Association’s brief supports the CFE position that
the current system of education funding violates Article XI §1 of the
State Constitution by not providing NYC Schools with resources sufficient
to offer a sound basic education. The brief also stated that state funding
violates Article IX §1 by not providing extra resources to account for
socio-economic deficits of many students. The Court of Appeals will hear
oral argument on the case on May 8, 2003. The brief in its entirety can be
viewed on the Association website (scsd.neric.org).
We are pleased to officially announce the upcoming Summer
Conference of the New York State Association of Small City School
Districts. This year, the
Conference will be held at the beautiful Thayer Hotel, at West Point, New
York, Sunday, August 10th
through Monday, August 11th.
We hope that you will include these dates in your summer plans as
this conference is a unique opportunity to address the issues facing the
small city school districts in the year 2003 as well as to relax and enjoy
yourself with activities such as golf, tennis, and tours of the United
States Military Academy, Museums, Battle Monument, Fort Putnam, Farm
Markets, Antiques and Shopping, and so much more.
Presentations will be made on “Breaking the Equity Barrier
Through Technology”. We also welcome any suggestions for making this
year’s conference an enjoyable and worthwhile experience for you.
You will find the registration materials for the Summer
Conference under the website. We
ask for your prompt response and look forward to seeing you in August.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Nancy
DePaulo or Robert E. Biggerstaff at (518) 462-5300 (phone), (518) 436-0210
(fax) or nd@degraff-foy.com.
Commissioner Richard Mills appeared before the Senate
Education Committee on March 18, 2003 as part of his annual visit to the
Legislature. The Commissioner
first addressed the proposed Governor’s cuts to the Education Department
which would leave the Department almost wholly supported by non-General
Fund sources. These should be rejected, he said, along with those targeted
to special education, Teacher’s of Tomorrow (a program that works),
BOCES (the lynch pin of regional support for education), experimental and
regular pre-Kindergarten programs (another program that is working) and
Roosevelt CSD (which passed a school budget for the first time in a
while), among others.
He then focused on the $1.2 billion proposed cut to education
aid. The problem, he said, with these cuts is that they take us off the
path to success that we all agreed to embark upon.
Senator Kenneth LaValle asked about mandate relief. The
Commissioner said he is currently working on a proposal which will require
dialog with Washington, too. Actual, substantial cost savings may be more
difficult to achieve.
Senator Seymour Lackman observed that, in the current world
political environment, greater reliance on Federal dollars will be
problematic. He asked why
does the Executive Budget rely so much on cuts to education? Commissioner
Mills said he could not answer that, but he said the Executive Budget has
“gone too far.” Taking BOCES as an example, after the cut, who will
help new superintendents if district superintendents are not available?
Senator Suzi Oppenheimer asked about the mandatory 70-30%
ratio of instructional and non-instructional costs for private schools for
the disabled. The Commissioner said they would look into this.
SUPPORT HIGHER STANDARDS
State Aid to Schools and EMSC
- Reject the Executive Budget cut of $ 1.2 Billion
and increase aid by $516 million
- Reject the Executive Budget targeting of the cut
to the high need districts and target 76 percent of the increase to
high need school districts to help close the achievement
gap using a regional cost factor and student needs to distribute aid.
- Reject the Executive Budget's disproportionate cut
of 30 percent of the Department's state general fund positions and 18
percent of the Department's state general funds,
which if enacted would severely limit our ability to carry out EMSC's
statutory mission.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal
to consolidate funding for special education and educationally related
support services aid into operating aid. And to reduce reimbursement
to school districts for students place in private schools for special education.
- Strengthen teaching by rejecting the Executive
Budget cut in the Teachers of Tomorrow, Mentor Teacher Intern and Teacher
Center programs and expand the Teachers of Tomorrow program to attract and
retain teachers in the hard to staff schools. Expand the program to
make paraprofessionals and alternative teacher certification
candidates to participate.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal to eliminate
the state role for the BOCES District Superintendent and increase the
ability of BOCES to attract and retain
District
Superintendents by phasing in an increase in the cap on their salaries
to 98 percent
of the Commissioner's most current salary.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal to
disproportionately cut BOCES aid
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal to
eliminate various categorical programs that provide
help in closing the gap such as Extended School Day, Schools Under
Registration Review, Transferring Success, Schools as Community Sites,
School Health Clinics and Primary Mental Health.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal to
cut Experimental Pre-K and the Roosevelt Academic Improvement Grant.
- Reject shifting from counties to school districts
the costs of noneducational services associated with pupils with
disabilities who are placed in private residential special education
programs.
Higher Education
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal to
cut the Tuition Assistance Program, Community College Aid, Bundy
Aid, Liberty Partnerships, STEP, CSTEP, Teacher Opportunity
Corps and the Higher Education Opportunity Program.
Professions
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal
to move the Office of the Professions to the Department
of State and use surplus fee revenue for other purposes.
Cultural Education
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal
to remove the State Library, Archives, Museum and Public Broadcasting
from the State Education Department.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal to cut aid to
public libraries (S13.4M) and aid to Public Broadcasting (S2.1M).
- Support the New Century Libraries Initiative - $107
million to create New York's Digital Library (NOVEL), set higher access
standards, create public library districts,
create
public school library support aid and support library construction.
Vocational and Educational Services
for Individuals with Disabilities
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal
to move the Vocational Rehabilitation program to
the Department of Labor.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal
to cut Case Services by $2Million and increase funding
for Case Services by $7 million to help us reach the goal of 20,000
job placements per year; meet the needs of the increased caseload
created by the medicaid buy-in legislation and raise the income
eligibility threshold.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal
to direct the expenditure of federal discretionary funds to ongoing
operations.
- Increase funding for the supported
employment program by $3 million to open up services
for more of our severely disabled individuals.
- Reject the Executive Budget proposal to
cut Independent Living Centers by $ 1.2M.
June 6,
2003
Association Board Meeting
12:00 pm
DeGraff-Foy, Albany
August
10 & 11, 2003
Summer Conference, Annual Meeting and
Board Meeting
The Thayer Hotel, West Point
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