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Should the Mayor Control NYC Schools? |
Education Philanthropy Catching a Chill As Economy Cools Charitable Giving
From family foundations to corporate philanthropies, charitable giving to K-12 education appears to be facing a downturn. Although no national figures are available, many philanthropies—including notable education contributors such as the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation—expect to decrease their giving levels this year. Most grantmakers are expected to meet their current grant commitments, which often span multiple years, but observers and foundation officials say the outlook for education is likely to worsen before it improves. The Denver-based Donnell-Kay Foundation saw its endowment drop by about one-fifth, to $26 million, from January to early November of 2008. And that was before the stock market plunged lower in recent months. How Big Donors Expect to Adjust Amid Downturn As a result, the private family foundation, whose mission is to improve public education and drive "systemic school reform," is scaling back its grantmaking, as well as in-house work with its own staff and consultants. The foundation’s budget is down by about $350,000, to $1.25 million for the fiscal year that began Feb. 1. "It's a pretty typical story," said Tony Lewis, the executive director. "We have less money to spend." Some organizations that rely on private giving for part or all of their budgets are already feeling the pinch. "What’s been a challenge is some of the local and regional corporate giving is down," said Craig S. Evans, the executive director of the nonprofit Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, in Florida, which raises money to work with the 166,000-student Orlando-based district. The organization’s budget has dropped from about $1.1 million in the last fiscal year to $920,000 this year, he said. Mr. Evans said he's heard from some foundations that they are redirecting their grantmaking to help "people who have lost their jobs, people who are hungry, people who are in housing trouble." Mixed Picture Notably, the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest single donor to K-12 education, has said its overall payout of grants would climb by 10 percent in 2009, though that growth was lower than planned. The foundation has provided some $2 billion this decade for efforts intended to improve high schools. (The foundation provides support for Education Week’s annual Diplomas Count report.) But philanthropic organizations themselves are facing the impact of tough times. The assets of many foundations dropped by nearly one-third last year, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported recently. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has drawn criticism, even from some leading congressional Democrats, for a proposal that would reduce the tax benefit of charitable giving by wealthy individuals starting in 2011. Critics argue that such a move would further squeeze private donations. At the same time, some analysts say the stock market tumble will have a much bigger impact on the decisions of high-wealth donors. When it comes to K-12 public education, philanthropic dollars are a tiny fraction of overall funding. Though no precise numbers are available, the Foundation Center, based in New York City, estimates total grant awards for elementary and secondary education, including for private schools, by foundations in 2006 at $1.36 billion. By contrast, in 2006-07, public schools spent more than $500 billion from all sources, according to federal data. Even so, philanthropy can play an important role. "Funders think about how to use their money to leverage change or to fill in the gaps," said Christine T. Tebben, executive director of Grantmakers for Education, a national network based in Portland, Ore. She said the recession is "the center of the conversation" for her nearly 250 members right now. The Nation’s 10 Wealthiest Foundations: Dropping Assets "The uncertainty [of the economy] is as hard as the reality," Ms. Tebben said. Although not separating out plans for education, several recent surveys suggest giving by many philanthropies is going down. A January report by Dini Partners, a Houston-based consulting firm, found that 62 percent of 54 major donors it surveyed across the nation expected their giving levels to decline in 2009. Of 73 foundations that recently provided information to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 39 said they expected their donations to decline this year. Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, said it’s too soon to know the “full damage” of the recession on education philanthropy, since many foundations calculate the value of their endowments over several years when setting giving levels. "It's likely it’ll get substantially uglier before we get out the other side," said Mr. Hess, who has studied philanthropy in education. Hit Across the Board "Our endowment is down, just like everybody else's," said Joshua S. Wyner, the executive vice president of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, based in Lansdowne, Va. In the fiscal year that ends May 31, his foundation is providing $11 million in grants for work in K-12 and higher education, including to charter school networks. Also, it’s giving $17 million in direct student support and scholarships for high-achieving, lower-income students to attend high school, college, and graduate school. "Our first priority is to maintain every commitment that we’ve made until now," Mr. Wyner said. He expects the foundation’s giving level will decline in the coming fiscal year, but said he doesn’t know how much yet. The Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation, one of the largest private K-12 funders in the country, will lower its new grant commitments in education in 2009, said Erica S. Lepping, a spokeswoman for the foundation. The foundation, which backs efforts such as improving urban school leadership and helping high-quality charter schools, committed nearly $80 million for new education grants last year. (Broad is providing support for the Education Week series "A Nation at Risk: 25 Years Later.") At the Donnell-Kay Foundation, Mr. Lewis said current and likely future budget cuts will lower the size of new grants and limit some policy work the philanthropy is doing through its staff and consultants. Recent grant recipients include the 75,000-student Denver public school system; the Colorado Children’s Campaign, a research and advocacy group in Denver; and Envision Schools Colorado, a new charter school operator. Responses Vary "One response is to take a really hard look at your giving, and thinking about how those grants align with your mission," she said. And some foundation officials see potential to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education, especially given a new, $5 billion pot of discretionary funding included as part of the recently enacted federal stimulus package, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's close work with philanthropies when he led the Chicago school system. Ms. Saroki said she worries, though, that the tight fiscal times may reduce the willingness of foundations to back the next generation of entrepreneurial ventures in education. She argues that nonprofits such as New York City-based Teach For America have proved to be especially powerful investments. Jay P. Greene, an education researcher at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville who has studied K-12 philanthropy, said many universities, think tanks, and other nonprofits working to influence the shape of education will surely face a difficult period. Robin J. Lake, the associate director of the Center for Reinventing Public Education, at the University of Washington in Bothell, said, “It’s going to be a lot harder for us to find money to support our most forward-thinking and creative work.” The center conducts research and policy analysis on charter schools, urban district reform, and other K-12 topics. Beyond Public Schools James B. Field, the president of the Minnesota Independent School Forum, based in St. Paul, said that at a recent meeting with the heads of 15 private schools, each reported that fundraising levels were down. To make matters worse, Mr. Field said, many schools with endowments have seen the value of those assets drop significantly. The Denver-based StreetSchool Network (formerly called the National Association of Street Schools), a national network of “second chance” Christian schools for struggling students, is facing more difficult times. Most of the schools charge nominal tuition on a sliding scale, so as not to price out a largely low-income clientele. Tom Tillapaugh, the network's president, said his organization and member schools, which rely heavily on private donations, are seeing a decline in charitable support. "We have several schools that are hurting really bad," he said, "and if something doesn’t change, they might have to close."
Should the Mayor Control NYC Schools?
by Beth Fertig NEW YORK, NY March 18, 2009 —This June, the state legislature will decide whether to renew the 2002 law that put Mayor Michael Bloomberg in charge of the city’s schools. It’s a controversial subject, with supporters and critics of the law each mounting fierce campaigns. As WNYC’s Beth Fertig reports, there are questions about what role the mayor is playing behind the scenes. The parents who filled the front rows of a state assembly committee hearing in the Bronx last week didn’t have to speak to be heard. Jeanette Iglesias wore two different buttons expressing her views.
That theme was also emblazoned on white and black placards Iglesisas and other parents were carrying that said “Mayoral Control Equals Better Schools.” The signs also listed the name of the group "Learn NY". Iglesias says the group visited her daughter’s charter school, the Family Life Academy in the Bronx. About 20 parents came from that school including Karin Weekes, who says she worries about what would happen if legislators weakened mayoral control. WEEKES: Maybe they might get rid of the charter schools. I know, like, people whose children go to public school, I mean PS 79, 27, something like that, and they complain so much about fighting. About the kids them not learning. And I say I don’t have a problem with my school. Weekes credited Mayor Bloomberg with expanding the number of charter schools in the city. But Jane Hirschmann, who runs another group called "Time Out From Testing", looked on with suspicion. HIRSCHMANN: Learn NY is being funded inadvertently, not directly, through the mayor. He’s done great P.R. I think its very sad that he’s using parents in this way, and that the real fact is we have to look to see if the mayor has been successful in what he says that he’s brought to New York City. And if you look at the facts, not the spin, the eighth grade scores in math and English are totally flat. Hirschmann is among many parents and education advocates who question the connection between Learn NY and the mayor. Learn NY has filled other assembly hearings with parents, many of them from charter schools. It’s hired the political consulting and polling firm Global Strategy Group, which worked for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Congressman Charles Rangel. Learn NY claims to have raised $3 million. But it won’t say who’s funding its campaign and because it’s a non-profit it doesn’t have to. The group DOES maintain it’s NOT funded by Mayor Bloomberg. CANADA: I met with no one from City Hall. And I was not asked by City Hall to do this. Geoffrey Canada chairs the board of Learn NY. He’s also Chief Executive of the Harlem Children’s Zone – which runs a network of services for families, plus two charter schools. Canada says Learn NY is supported by private foundations who don’t wish to be identified, but which are longtime contributors to the schools. A spokesman for the mayor also says the group gets no money from Bloomberg and is completely independent. Canada says he incorporated Learn NY last summer, before Bloomberg declared his intention to seek a third term. He says it’s an important issue for him in Harlem, because too many people were passing the buck before the mayor took charge. Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Childen’s Zone has received almost $388 million in contracts from the city and the Education Department over the past decade, according to records from the comptroller’s office. Two other board members of Learn NY are Reverend Calvin Butts of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and Sister Paulette LoMonaco of Good Shepherd Services. Their organizations have done almost $400 million worth of combined business with the city over the last decade. CANADA: If you look at my position around these issues 15 years ago you will see no change in the way they are right now. The only change is I have a mayor who actually seems to agree with those positions. KEELEY: The underlying message when the mayor would ask for participation in a board is, what if you say no? The implicit message, and that’s not to say that the mayor does that, but it is a power dynamic that exists. If somebody is providing finances for your organization and they ask you for a favor it can be difficult to say no. About 40 community based organizations and charter schools have joined Learn NY. Many of them get city funding. There’s no evidence Mayor Bloomberg pressured them to join. But last September, Klein, Bloomberg, and Geoffrey Canada hosted a breakfast at City Hall with foundation heads and business leaders. Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott was also there. He says no one was asked to campaign for mayoral control – though attendees were shown a powerpoint presentation about the system’s success. WALCOTT: The system in place has produced results that benefit children in the long run. So there’s nothing wrong with that. We talk about results all the time, we talk about the progress that we made, we meet with people, I go out to community forums and testify at state assembly hearings and state senate hearings, I mean that’s part of our job and my job. And political experts agree that building coaltions is essential for any mayor. Coalitions may be especially important for Bloomberg, whose relationships with Albany lawmakers have been strained. His signature plans for a West Side stadium and congestion pricing on the East River bridges died in Albany. HUMPHREY: They’re not very popular with legislators. I think that they created this group to distance the mayor and chancellor as much as possible from the fight to renew this law so it could look like legitimate grassroots demand. A recent Quinnipiac poll found most New Yorkers support keeping mayoral control of the schools. But there are strong voices of dissent. While it’s hard to find anyone who wants to go back to the old Board of Education, many groups do want to weaken the mayor’s role - including the politically powerful United Federation of Teachers. Parents and local community leaders like Monica Major of the Bronx have also joined the fray. MAJOR: Instead of a dictatorship we demand partnership. A real productive partnership with the mayor and other public officials. A lively debate is sure to continue before the law granting the mayor control of the schools expires in June. Tomorrow, the Assembly’s Education Committee will hold its last in a series of hearings on the issue, in Brooklyn.
Tax hike is textbook politics
By Erik Engquist New York's chattering classes are no longer debating whether state income taxes will be jacked up on high earners. Now the only question is by how much. And the credit-or blame-for successfully framing the debate goes largely to a minor political party that's starting to have a major impact on state government. The left-leaning Working Families Party has orchestrated a tax-reform campaign straight from the textbook of retail politics. Last week, it staged eight simultaneous rallies that drew nearly 100,000 people statewide, including 50,000 at City Hall. It has knocked on 42,000 doors, generating 7,000 handwritten letters to lawmakers. Radio advertisements saturate the airwaves in Albany. Its YouTube video "highlighting how easy the state's tax system is on millionaires," as a party spokesman put it, is being watched a thousand times a day. "It certainly has made a difference," says Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, D-Manhattan, pointing to identical bills in the Assembly and Senate that would raise rates on people with adjusted gross incomes above $250,000. Targeting opponents The Working Families Party was founded in 1998 by labor unions and liberal groups with the goal of pulling the Democratic Party to the left. The United Autoworkers, advocacy group Acorn, the Communication Workers of America, the Laborers Union and Citizen Action were involved from the outset; health care workers union 1199 SEIU and the United Federation of Teachers joined soon after. The party secured its own ballot line, on which candidates from other parties can run. New York's unusual fusion voting system allows votes from different ballot lines to be combined, so Working Families is not relegated to running "spoiler" candidates, Executive Director Dan Cantor says. The tax bills will almost certainly be folded into legislation establishing the next state budget, which is due March 31. Revenue raised by the increased taxes will be used to fund education, health care, and other areas dear to the party and other members of its "Fair Share Tax Reform" coalition-1199, the UFT and New York State United Teachers, Acorn, the United Auto Workers, the Communication Workers of America, nonprofit social services providers and others. "The Wall Street meltdown has permanently knocked several billion dollars out of the core of the state's tax base, and threatened all of the money that flows to their programs," says E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy. "They need a permanent replacement for that money." To appease the more conservative Democrats in the Senate, a compromise is expected. The 10.3% top marginal rate in the bill, which would tie California's as the nation's highest, could be lowered to 8.97%, matching New Jersey's. Or the adjusted gross income that triggers a higher rate could be raised to $350,000 or so. But the current rate of 6.85% on all income over $40,000 appears to be doomed. Once the new rates are part of a state budget agreement between the Legislature and Gov. David Paterson, their approval will be assured. "We haven't won anything yet, but I feel like we're winning the debate," says Mr. Cantor, who has run the party since its creation. State Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, who is carrying the bill in the Senate, says: "They've been moving public opinion. And they have been effectively reaching out to those of us in the Legislature to encourage us-to show that not only is this the right thing to do, it's the politically popular thing to do." The opposition has been meek by comparison. A conservative political action committee, New Yorkers for Growth, started an online petition, and the Real Estate Board of New York put together a group called Taxpayers for an Affordable New York, which includes the Business Council of New York State. The latter group sent a mailing to 125,000 high-earning households and launched a Web site that has generated 1,000 e-mail messages to legislators. Getting message out "They have a system, a very powerful system, for raising money and taking over the airwaves," says Kenneth Adams, president of the business council. "Millions of average New Yorkers across the state don't have those systems-and frankly, neither does the business community-to mobilize to oppose this." Mr. Schneiderman says the Fair Share campaign has tapped into the growing public sentiment that "the redistribution of wealth to the wealthy went too far." But Mr. McMahon says the Working Families Party and its allies have used "class warfare" to "create the illusion of a mass movement." Whatever the case, it's working. "Lawmakers are very skittish and easily swayed by any sign of organized activity," Mr. McMahon says. "Especially when there's no sign of organized activity countering it."
Report Shows Steep Gains by Students From Abroad
By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ Days after it was criticized by lawmakers for failing to make gains with students struggling with English, the city’s Department of Education released a report on Tuesday showing that unprecedented numbers of those students became proficient in English last year and that more of them passed state tests in English and math. But despite efforts to improve the performance of the city’s 150,000 students who are still learning English, nearly 70 percent of them do not graduate within four years and older students in particular lag behind their peers on state tests. According to the report, about 29 percent of fourth graders struggling with English passed the state language-arts test last year, compared with about 4 percent in 2003. Among eighth graders, 5 percent passed, up from about 1 percent in 2003. The report was circulated on the same day as the annual list of failing schools, which included 31 fewer New York City schools this year, and 66 fewer across New York State. Among the 401 city schools with poor test scores and graduation rates that landed on the list, 36 have been marked for closing and will be phased out over the next several years. Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, praised the decline in the number of city schools on the list, but noted that the plethora of measurements — failing-school lists, annual state reviews and city report cards — are often contradictory and make it difficult to identify successful schools. The report on English language learners followed a heated debate Friday between Education Department officials and state lawmakers at a hearing on the 2002 mayoral control law. A key point of contention was whether the city had made adequate progress with a particularly vulnerable set of students, including some who have not had formal schooling in years. Citywide, English-language learners make up about 14 percent of the student population, though 26 percent were in the English-language program at some point. Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said there were signs of progress in the report, including more than 13 percent of English-language learners passing proficiency tests in 2008, compared with fewer than 4 percent in 2003. But Ms. Hong said that older students in particular were not being given the attention they deserved, noting that in 2007, about 1 in 10 English- language learners graduated with a Regents diploma, the more rigorous academic certificate that all students will soon have to earn. “We’re sounding the alarm because I don’t think it does anybody any good to try to gloss over this problem,” she said, adding that the city should do more to recruit and train teachers for certification in other languages. “Unless they fix this, it will forever be the big shadow that looms over any legacy of mayoral control.” But Angelica M. Infante, deputy executive director of the Education Department’s Office of English Language Learners, said that the grim graduation rates were not the best metric on which to judge the city’s efforts, which have included standardizing the curriculum. She noted that these numbers include those who arrive in the United States as older teenagers and must master the language and the Regents tests within a few years. “I wonder how many of us would be able to go to another country and do this, and be able to take physics and these other subject areas,” she said. “It’s a lot of catch up. These kids really need more time.” She said a better measure of the city’s efforts was the progress made by former English-language learners, whom the report said had outperformed other traditional subgroups of students in state tests, graduation rates and dropout rates. Former English-language learners have a graduation rate of 71 percent, according to the report, compared with about 64 percent for students who enter the system proficient in English. Then there are those who have been in the program more than six years and are classified as “long-term” participants. “The educational practices have to be a little different for each of the different groups,” she said. “In order for them to catch up, we need to be able to give them a program that fills in all those gaps.”
Immigrant parents feel unwelcome at schools
Catherine Man, additional reporting by Cristin Strining, Immigrant parents want to participate in their children's school, but too often experience barriers that make it difficult to do so, according to a 52-page report released today by Advocates for Children of New York. "There is a common misconception that immigrant parents are not interested in getting involved in school activities, but 80% of immigrant parents we surveyed said they would like to be more involved in their children's schools," said Arlen Benjamin-Gomez, a staff attorney in the Immigrant Students' Rights Project at Advocates for Children, who was quoted in a press release about the report. "The DOE has to address what keeps these parents out of schools and lead a citywide effort to make schools more inclusive of immigrant communities." According to the report, Our Children, Our Schools: A Blueprint for Creating Partnerships Between Immigrant Families and New York City Public Schools, parents don't know how to get involved and are made to feel unwelcome by school personnel. Immigrant parents say their concerns are often not addressed by administrators even when they make the effort to reach out to someone at the school. A few parents say they are active and involved because school staff speak their language and make efforts to include them in school activities. The report, which surveyed 82 immigrant parents whose children attend New York City public schools and the staff at 16 community organizations, offers 48 recommendations on how to make schools more welcoming. Representatives from these community groups and public school immigrant parents attended a press conference held today by Advocates for Children to share their personal experiences, attesting to the barriers that the report documents. Parents who spoke at the press conference emphasized the need for schools to create parent identification cards for immigrant parents who do not have state-issued ID, one of the recommendations in the report. They acknowledged the need for school security but not to the extent that parents are effectively barred from entering their children's schools. The report suggests that all school employees be trained on how to create a welcoming environment for non-English speaking parents who are new to the education system. Additionally at the school level, the report advises that schools educate parents about parent associations and school leadership teams, as well as record phone messages in different languages. On a broader scale, the report advocates for the creation of an Immigrant Family Resource Center in each borough for parents who need assistance communicating with their school or resolving a problem. The report stresses the importance of collaboration with community organizations that already serve as trusted resources for immigrant families. It suggests that the Department of Education would do well to tap into the knowledge of these organizations in developing resources for parents and in conducting well-planned outreach. As an example, the report notes that turnout for the DOE's Office of Family Engagement and Advocacy Native Language Forums, which strive to inform parents about school-related issues in eight languages, significantly improved when community organizations were involved in an advisory committee to plan the meetings. Advocates for Children Executive Director Kim Sweet said, "We're really pleased with the content of this report, and we believe that it will have a significant impact on forming equal partnerships with immigrant families in the schools."
Governor to offer $168m to education
By Matt Viser While state and local education officials do not know whether the money will be enough to counteract the deep effects of the historic recession, which continues to erode the taxes used to pay for public education, it represents a rare financial windfall for municipalities. "This is the governor's attempt to help [school] districts in a very unpredictable time, to stem the rising tide of pink slips and assure some young teachers they'll still have jobs," said an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the governor had not made the announcement. "It's not a panacea, but it provides a higher floor of funding." Patrick is planning to make the announcement this morning at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Framingham, a town expected to receive $3.5 million in additional funds through the proposal. Local officials will not be able to use the money to offset the effects of hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to general local aid that pays for other municipal services. Patrick has the power to allocate the federal stimulus money, but because state education funding involves complicated formulas, he will have to work with the Legislature to build consensus for his plan. The money to be announced today will supplement school operating budgets, which are typically supported by state aid and local property taxes. "Even though school districts are cutting, even though school committees are frustrated, we do have a measure of hope and encouragement," said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. "But the longer-term effect will be determined by the impact of the recession and how long it lasts." The governor wanted to make the announcement early enough that local school officials could make plans for next year's budgets, said the administration official, but the announcement's timing could also draw legislative opposition because House and Senate lawmakers have not finalized their budgets and the governor's proposal could limit their options. House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray generally supported the concept yesterday in statements issued by their spokesmen, but they did not commit to details. The announcement is the first of several expected steps toward using federal stimulus money to fill budget gaps in education. The proposal today will not address additional funding for higher education, which next year would be $142 million below fiscal 2008 levels, but administration officials say they might also use stimulus money to increase funding levels for public colleges and universities. All told, the state is expecting to receive $819 million in federal money to spend on public education over the next 27 months. Sending $168 million to local school districts next year means $651 million would still be available to spend on higher education and other areas of education, according to an administration official. Schools would also receive between $850 million and $900 million directly from the federal government through existing programs, according to administration calculations. Competitive grants could also be available starting in the fall. "If this funding proposal moves forward, we would not only be able to avert layoffs, but we could restore some of the things that have been eliminated over the past two years," she said. Salem would have a funding gap of $2.4 million to keep services the same as they are this year, but would receive $3.2 million through the governor's plan. Patrick, who has had to significantly scale back his plans for education improvement, made education funding a major focus of his lobbying during several trips to Washington and multiple phone conversations with congressional leaders. He contends that the federal government should consider education as much of a priority as other components of the stimulus package, such as infrastructure improvements and income tax breaks. President Obama personally called Patrick last month to thank him for his work in securing education funds in the final federal legislation, according to administration officials, and the approach to including education funding was referred to on at least one conference calls from the White House as the "Patrick-Doyle Amendment," alluding to Patrick and Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. The education funding is only one component of a much wider budget debate simmering on Beacon Hill. House and Senate lawmakers have said the budget picture is getting much worse than originally anticipated and are planning debates over several tax-raising proposals that could include increasing the sales tax, along with other plans Patrick has put forward to raise taxes on sales of candy, alcohol, and hotel stays. And though the governor is planning to add money for local schools, other municipal services will still see cuts. Patrick has proposed a local aid cut of $375 million next year, which would be lowered to $220 million if the Legislature approves his plan to increase meals and hotel taxes. Each year, the state sends nearly $4 billion to communities for public schools. The budget proposal Patrick released in January recommends keeping that amount the same next year, but local officials have warned that, in essence, they will have to cut their budgets because of inflation and raises for unionized employees.
Funds may skip schools in poor areas
It was pitched as a much-needed balm to help financially ailing cities and towns to avoid painful cuts in the schools. Instead, the $168 million in federal stimulus funds the Patrick administration announced yesterday sparked an angry backlash from local leaders who learned that, despite their budget problems, they will not receive anything. "I hate to pit city against city, but this is the fourth or fifth time we've been shafted, and there's no rhyme and reason for it," said Mayor John Barrett III of North Adams, which is not getting any money. He said his city, the third poorest in the state, is closing a school because of budget problems. The state published a list yesterday showing that 166 communities - including the relatively wealthy towns of Belmont, Wellesley, and Hingham - will share in funding, while more than 100 others - including Boston, Weymouth, and Hull - would have to do without. Patrick administration officials say they were required by federal law to give the money to cities and towns in accordance with a funding formula set by the Legislature that takes into account factors such as changes in student enrollment and demographics. Any community whose education budget has not met the minimum funding requirements established by the formula was given a portion of the $168 million to make up the difference. "Ideally, we'd like to be able to do more for every community in the Commonwealth," said S. Paul Reville, the state education secretary. "But the reality is, revenue is in a tailspin, and we're doing the best we can to apply this money judiciously and fairly." That did not appease leaders of cities and towns left off the list, who said that any formula that sends more money to wealthy towns does not make sense. "It's ridiculous," said Phil Lemnios, Hull's town manager. "If there's a formula that says the students in Wellesley are in greater need than the students in Hull, then there's something wrong with the formula. There's something fundamentally wrong." Many local officials have long urged the Legislature to overhaul the formula, saying it is too complex and unpredictable. "I don't begrudge the other communities," Barrett said, "but who in God's name came up with this formula?" Mayor Robert J. Dolan of Melrose, president of the Massachusetts Mayors Association, said his city made deep cuts in other parts of its budget to bring education funding up to state-mandated levels. But rather than being rewarded, he said, Melrose is not receiving money. "I feel at this point we're being penalized for doing the right thing and making hard decisions, and I have got a problem with that," he said. "It seems like you do the right thing and they don't recognize it." To be sure, many poor communities are receiving funds. Springfield is receiving $13 million, Brockton, $5.6 million, and Lawrence, $6.7 million. But wealthier communities also made the list. Wellesley is receiving $1.2 million, Belmont $1.4 million, and Hingham $955,000. "Those are communities that have experienced some changes in enrollment over the past year, so you find a place like Wellesley getting more money," Reville said. "We have the most progressive education finance formula in the nation. Is it a perfect formula? No. But most of the problems that come up with respect to the formula are a function of inadequate funding." Mayor Michael J. McGlynn of Medford said the state's distribution contradicted the purpose of the federal stimulus package. "What Congress said is, let's take this money and spread it through every city and town in the country and reboot the economy," McGlynn said. "Cities and towns are the economic engine that drive this country. But half of us, more than half of us, are not even allowed to start the car." Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, did not express displeasure that Boston was passed over, and said she expects the city will receive $17 million for schools in later rounds of stimulus funding. Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said schools in the state can expect an additional $800 million in stimulus funding the next two years. "We need to make sure the communities that got zeros get much more than that," he said.
Washington, D.C.—Responding to an unprecedented global economic slowdown, top officials in three more states announced their commitment to the “Tough Choices or Tough Times” reform agenda, a major redesign of state education systems intended to help students succeed both in school and the workforce. Late last year Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Utah became the initial states to announce their commitment to implementing recommendations of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce (www.skillscommission.org) in its “Tough Choices or Tough Times” report. Today, three other states, Arizona, Delaware and New Mexico, announced that they, too, have signed on to this aggressive agenda for education reform. The Commission proposes a practical approach to dramatically improving the performance of the nation’s students by adopting the kinds of powerful instructional systems, based on the highest international standards, that the most successful countries have used for many years. Additional recommendations include: recruiting our teachers from the top third of college graduates and increasing their pay to make that possible; revamping the high school-college transition; reallocating education funding to high priority strategies for improving system performance; pre-k for all; putting more of our education funding behind students from low-income families; and changing the way schools are managed to give teachers much more influence over the way schools are run, while holding them accountable for the results. “Forty years ago, the United States had the best educated workforce in the world. That has not been true since then, and our standing relative to our competitors continues to decline. Nothing, not even the current economic crisis, has a more important bearing on the standard of living that our grandchildren will be likely to enjoy as adults. With these additional states, the momentum behind this effort continues to grow, providing us with further momentum, and we are talking with other states that are also very interested in joining,” says Marc Tucker, Co-Chair of Implementation, New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. “Education is the most critical investment a society can make in its future. We are ready to work with NCEE over the next year to help ensure that we get the greatest return for that investment,” said Delaware Gov. Jack Markell. “No single person has all the answers to the critical questions facing our education future. By joining this consortium we will gain greater access to outside experts committed to making the most of public education. We can leverage what has worked around the country to make the most of our own reforms.” “The bold education initiatives we’ve enacted in New Mexico over the last six years are taking root, but we can’t afford to stop seeking out new ideas when it comes to ensuring our students get the best education possible,” Governor Bill Richardson says. “The innovative initiatives in ‘Tough Choices’ are worth exploring as we develop an educational system that prepares our children for the evolving demands of the 21st century workforce.” “Tough Choices or Tough Times,” which was the focus of a 2006 TIME magazine cover story, incorporates many features of the world’s most successful education systems. Each state is zeroing in on the part of the agenda that best fits its needs right now. Arizona’s commitment to “Tough Choices” is grounded in its history of innovation in education, including its pioneering charter school laws and P–20 approach to meeting the needs of the 21st century workplace. “I support ‘Tough Choices or Tough Times’ because its goals align with a number of our initiatives and accomplishments,” says Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. Examples that Horne cited include: Alignment of high school math and science graduation requirements with university admission requirements; strengthening of career and technical education (CTE) academic content; initiation of Education and Career Action Plans to support student academic and career goals; and alignment of Arizona’s high school graduation rate to the National Governors Association recommendation. New Mexico, under the leadership of Gov. Bill Richardson, has already enacted bold education reform that mirrors the key initiatives of “Tough Choices” including: expanding pre-k education; increasing teacher pay; and improving the high school to college transition. Over the next year, the Public Education Department will explore how the other recommendations of “Tough Choices” fit into New Mexico’s educational system’s needs. Delaware is implementing “Tough Choices” via the Governor’s plan to give school districts more flexibility to innovate, offer teachers additional rewards for excellence and introduce greater accountability through more rigorous and more frequent testing.
Carlisle may extend kindergarten
By Nancy Shohet West Citing research that suggests children with longer kindergarten days get off to a better start academically, Superintendent Marie Doyle of Carlisle met with about 60 parents this month to outline a proposal to extend Carlisle's kindergarten hours. Parents at the meeting responded with mixed views. Martha Haddad, whose son Philip attended kindergarten on the current schedule and whose daughter Marjorie will start next fall, supports the idea. "I'm a full-time working parent, so my children started in full-day programs when they were 13 months old," Haddad said. "When Philip started kindergarten he did not quite know what to make of the three short days." Other parents said their children came home exhausted after the two long days and needed the shorter days as a break. Hunter Hutchinson said kindergarten teachers schedule the majority of academic subjects during the morning hours, knowing that that is when children tend to be most alert and attentive. Shortening the week takes out some of the most fruitful learning time. The Carlisle Kids House, which provides childcare coverage before and after regular school hours, has already said that it could provide full-day coverage on the day classes did not meet. Doyle said that would probably be Monday or Friday so school days would be consecutive. At the end of the meeting, parents asked Doyle to consider a schedule like Concord's, which is three full days and two half days. This offers little cost savings but meets the goal of increasing hours while avoiding all full days.
Schools soften landing for new immigrants
By David Abel Until two months ago, Isamar Mejia was attending school in Santo Domingo and planning to become a lawyer. Then her mother and stepfather moved to Boston and told the 16-year-old she would have to finish school here, even though she spoke not a word of English and had never seen snow. The nervous junior instead joined a new experiment by Boston public schools that is aiming to halve the system's dropout rate over the next four years by providing lessons in language and culture to older students who have recently arrived to the country. Mejia and 21 other students are now learning English and how to navigate the city's streets and customs at the Newcomers Academy, which is designed to ease the transition to diploma-granting schools. "It's so hard when everyone speaks a language and you don't understand anything they're saying," Mejia said in Spanish, after showing off her new mastery of numbers in English. "You don't even know what to ask. I hope this will help me learn English, quickly." The $1.3 million program is expected to grow next year to about 250 students who have limited English proficiency and who arrived in the United States after the school year started. A third of the targeted students have no reading or writing experience, even in their own language. The month-old program, which is housed in the former Thompson Middle School in Dorchester, was born out of concerns about the system's dropout rate. In 2007, nearly a quarter of all students who started at a Boston high school were likely to drop out within the next five years, according to the most recent statistics. A study of the system's dropout rate that year found that many who had quit school were immigrants who had arrived in the middle of the academic year. For the class of 2004, the study by the Parthenon Group found that 13 percent of its 1,053 dropouts were late-entering immigrants. It also found that only 36 percent of such students graduated within four years, and fewer than half graduated within six years. "We are trying to intervene to improve their graduation rates," School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson said in a telephone interview. "This gives our families another option, and it helps us meet the needs of students as they make a very difficult transition." But some educators have questioned whether Newcomers Academy will segregate new immigrants and make it harder for them to move to a regular school. Others worry that it could become a kind of scholastic ghetto, where students are funneled into a program that might hold them back. "There has to be a clear exit strategy for the students," said Joh n Mudd, a senior project director at Massachusetts Advocates for Children. "The concern is that if we keep them in the program for too long, they become segregated or denied the opportunity to become part of the mainstream society. You don't want pockets of people who are not prepared to be part of the broader economy, civic culture, and political culture. They need to learn how to function." Oscar Santos, headmaster of Boston International High School, said he is concerned about starting students in a program instead of at a school. He also worries that staggering their entry into the system could increase their disorientation and that grouping illiterate students with those who are learning English could potentially hold back the more educated students. His solution would be to create more schools for recent immigrants, who he said are the fastest-growing portion of the student body. Nineteen percent of the district's 56,000 students lack proficiency in English. "We shouldn't have a one-size-fits-all program," said Santos, whose school will move into the same building as the academy next year. "The students should have the option to go directly to a school, and I worry that we may be taking the most transient population, letting them build relationships, and then having them move again. We're potentially losing a lot of the good work." Officials at Newcomers Academy said they view the program as a way to provide new immigrants with a "soft landing" in the system that can better prepare them to succeed at a regular school. Students will be referred to the program after screening required of all new students. They said that the program will have a student-teacher ratio that will not exceed 15-to-1, significantly better than most city schools and that the students will receive a more individually styled education. Students will remain in the program for up to two years, but many will move to schools within weeks or months. "The biggest challenge for many of these students is helping them make the very big adjustment of living and learning in a new country," said Nydia Méndez, director of the Newcomers Academy, which is modeled after similar programs in New York City. "They all arrive with zero English and different academic levels." Many of the students come from hardscrabble backgrounds and require help. One student from El Salvador, who said he had several friends killed by gangs there, is now working nights at McDonald's to help his mother pay for his trip to the United States. Another student survived the civil war in Sierra Leone and spent several years in refugee camps in Senegal before moving to Boston. Three sisters from Haiti are still learning to read and write. For Isamar Mejia, the hardest part may be adjusting to the cold. On her first day in the program, she got caught wearing sandals in a snowstorm and fainted from the frost. A teacher had to buy her socks, tights, and a hat. On a recent assignment to learn the names of produce items at a nearby supermarket, which included a long walk in the cold, Mejia shivered as she showed off the English she had learned in the previous two months. "I didn't have a choice to come here," she said. "It's hard, but I want to learn."
Highlighted below are some of the exciting projects of the Schott Foundation’s grantees. Please visit the Schott Foundation website at www.schottfoundation.org to see a listing of current grantees.
March 17, 2009
During the networking day in Washington D.C., Scholars met with rising progressive policy professionals like David Johns and Portia Wu, senior counsels for US Senator Kennedy. The next day, the Scholars drafted policy memos to their respective governors on how to use infrastructure spending to stimulate their state’s economy. Our professional development workshops then focused on giving the Scholars tools to prepare their resumes, and practicing job interviews for public policy positions. Our final day was spent evaluating the Scholars’ skills and comprehension of our core curriculum in policy analysis. One particularly poignant moment came when former DMI Scholars, who are already making their mark in the policy world, imparted wisdom to the new kids on the block at our “speed networking” event. Now it’s time for our Scholars to go out in the field and get their feet wet! If you are interested in hosting a DMI Scholar for a summer internship, please contact me anytime at tbetru@drummajorinstitute.org.
Every Child Matters is pleased to announce the release of our second free video in as many weeks, "Homeland Insecurity: Why New Investments in Children and Youth Must Be a Priority for the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress." In this 11 minute video, ECM president Michael Petit presents the latest data on child well-being in the U.S. It contains state data on child well-being, as well how the U.S. compares against other countries. It makes a succinct case for shifting federal budget priorities more towards children and families. Please take a minute to watch this short video today. Last week we released the 7 minute 'Presidents Helping Children’ video, which shows the role of the White House in lifting the status of the nation's children. We hope you will find both videos helpful in your own staff and public education efforts, that you will forward them to your friends and colleagues, and that you will post them on your organization's website if appropriate. Help Kids: Petition Congress! Thank you for your help to make children a budget priority. |
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The Snap Schott is distributed by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. For more information, please visit www.schottfoundation.org. |
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