| Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. |
|
|
Snap Schott:
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announces freeze on hiring new teachers, but says no layoffs State facing years of fiscal woes, analysts say |
Bloomberg flunked:Bill in Albany would take away mayor's control of city education policy panel
BY KENNETH LOVETT ALBANY - The battle for control over city schools is heating up with a bill quietly being floated in the Legislature that would weaken the mayor's tight grip on education. The bill, which is backed by the Campaign For Better Schools, would take control of the city education policy panel and its chairman away from the mayor. It has support from at least five lawmakers. Billy Easton, an organizer of the Campaign for Better Schools, a coalition of 25 community groups that has been tied to the city and state teacher unions in the past, argued that the proposal provides more checks and balances, transparency, and parental involvement. "We think that this gives [the city] mayoral control. We are just opposed to one-man rule," Easton said. The Bloomberg administration ripped the plan as a major step backward. "This an outline for ending mayoral control," said Bloomberg spokeswoman Dawn Walker. "The return to an unaccountable board would leave no one ... held responsible for failed policies and poor performing schools - except the students." Under the proposal, the 13-member panel would grow to 17. The mayor would have eight appointments, one less than the majority. He now has the majority of appointments. Borough presidents, the City Council, the governor, the Assembly speaker and the Senate majority leader would each appoint one member. Panel members would serve two-year terms, stripping the mayor of his ability to replace board members at The new chairman would be chosen by the Panel for Educational Policy among its voting members. The panel would vote on the Education Department's annual budget, capital plan, contracts exceeding $200,000 and changes to educational policies and standards. The mayor would still unilaterally appoint the chancellor. Other provisions would give district superintendents and local Community Education Councils more power and direct the city controller and Independent Budget Office to scrutinize the Education Department's finances and academic scores. Assemblymen Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) and Sens. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) and Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan) have signed on to the measure, which is not yet introduced. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) this week said they support keeping the panel in the hands of the mayor.
BY MEREDITH KOLODNER AND RACHEL MONAHAN Teachers need not apply. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced a freeze on hiring new teachers Wednesday with few exceptions. "We are going to reduce spending without laying off teachers," Klein wrote in a letter to principals. "We are imposing these restrictions because we cannot afford to support" the pool of 1,100 teachers who previously lost their jobs due to school closings or staff cuts. Principals looking to fill vacancies now or for next fall must choose between teachers looking to leave another school or those currently working as overpaid substitutes. United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten took credit for "calling for these measures since last October. "We are gratified that the Department of Education is... taking steps to fill school vacancies with veteran educators who lost their jobs through no fault of their own," she said in a statement. "A high percentage" of schools will be forced to lay off nonteaching staff, said Photo Anagnostopoulos, DOE's chief operating officer. But the number of layoffs won't be determined until school budget cuts are revealed the week of May 18, she said. The DOE will continue to hire to fill vacancies for headquarters and other administrative positions, she said. The hiring freeze on teachers is meant to limit the budget cuts schools will face, Klein told principals, and provide principals more choice with staffing. "Any layoff of teaching staff is done by seniority, which would require us to force-place teachers until the least senior teachers in the city were laid off," he wrote. Not all principals were pleased to lose control over who they could hire while Klein's program still holds them accountable for their schools' performance. "Sure, you want to hold my feet the fire," said one middle school principal. "Don't tell me I have to hire from a particular group." An exception to the hiring freeze was made for new schools, where up to 50% of staff can be from outside the system. Further exceptions are expected to be made for teachers in subject areas, including science and special education, where there are teaching shortages. "There's still a need for a number of high-needs teachers," said Jemina Bernard, Teach For America executive director for the New York region. But the number of New York City Teaching Fellows and Teach for America teachers, who work in high needs areas, will be slashed - by half. Their salaries will also no longer be guaranteed by central Department of Education if they aren't hired by schools in the fall.
City kids make major gains on state English test scores for grades 3 GRANTEE IN THE NEWS
BY BEN LESSER, RACHEL MONAHAN AND MEREDITH KOLODNER Just weeks before Albany decides if the mayor can keep control of the schools, officials announced Thursday that more and more city students passed the state reading test. "I don't think there's any doubt; by every measure, mayoral control is better serving the interests of the children of New York," Chancellor Joel Klein said. "If you had told me that this was going to happen, I would have said when are we going to celebrate?" The percentage of students passing the exam soared to 68.8% from 57.6% last year. In all, 68.9% of fourth-graders passed the exam, up from 46.5% in 2002, and 57% of eighth-graders passed, up from 29.5% in 2002, when the mayor took office. The most dramatic increase was with sixth-graders: 72.6% passed this year, a 19.9 percentage point gain from last year. Klein said the emphasis on middle schools had paid off. "What they've done ... is nothing short of amazing and exactly what this country needs," Mayor Bloomberg said. He cited efforts to hold principals, teachers, students and parents accountable through progress reports, the end of social promotion and performance incentives for teachers. "We've improved the test scores for New York City students compared to New York State," he added. "We've improved the test scores for minorities, black and Latino kids compared to white and Asian kids who have always tested better. "Seven years in a row of closing the outrageous ethnic gap in testing. ... Good news." The city's black and Latino students passed the exams in greater numbers - with 62% of Latino and 62.9% of black students passing. Though white students, with 84.8% passing, still outpaced their peers, the achievement gap fell by 4.3% for black students and by 5.5% for Latino students. English language learners also improved relative to their English-speaking peers. They were up 12.2% over last year. Special education students posted a 19.9% increase. Critics of mayoral control said the results are misleading - and don't prove mayoral control is working. "New York City is in the middle of the pack," said Billy Easton of the Campaign for Better Schools. "That means that the argument that mayoral control is the cause of the gain just doesn't hold up to the scrutiny of the facts." He pointed to other increases that matched the city's 11% jump, including about 12% in Buffalo and about 10% in Syracuse and Yonkers. Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch pointed to an influx of resources, wider access to prekindergarten, a more unified curriculum and improved professional development for scores rising statewide. The number of city children enrolled in pre-K grew to 54,038 from 45,589 in 2005, an increase of almost 8,500 children, city figures show. Per pupil spending was about $11,640 in 2003 and rose to $16,236 in 2007, the most updated figure available from the city Education Department. "The headline from me should be a four-year story," Tisch said, asking parents to look at long-term trends. She noted that over the last four years, New York City and Rochester improved their scores by 18%, Syracuse by 19% and Buffalo by 24%. Testing experts said the state's reasons made sense, but that more was likely at work. "One of them is a huge increase in test preparation," said former testing chief for the city and NYU professor Robert Tobias. "It's kind of like how you get to Carnegie Hall - practice, practice, practice."
Test numbers too good to be true, hide achievement gap of poor students, some veteran educators say
Juan Gonzalez Too unbelievable to be true. That's what some veteran educators say about the huge jump in public school reading scores state and city officials released Thursday. In just one year, average scores for all New York City elementary pupils zoomed by Even more astonishing, fifth graders recorded a 20% increase. All across the state, scores rose by an average of 9%, and even beleaguered Buffalo's schools matched the jump our city students registered. "It's impossible that you would see this kind of change in just one year," said Martha Foote, an education researcher with Time Out From Testing, a group critical of high-stakes testing. "After seven years of these improved test scores, how come the children we're getting in high school aren't reading any better and don't show any greater love of literature?" said a veteran secondary school principal who scoffed when she heard the results. Today, we will be told that city charter schools - one of the most touted yet most controversial aspects of Mayor Bloomberg's educational reforms - showed even bigger gains in testing than regular public schools. What the Bloomberg administration doesn't like to admit is how the approximately 100 charter schools created in recent years have steadily evolved into institutions that do not serve the poorest and most vulnerable students. A review of 2007-2008 state report cards for the charter schools reveals that students who are still learning English rarely get admitted. Those students comprise 14% of overall public school enrollment, but they are less than 4% of the charter school population. Meanwhile, the poorest children in the school system, those who qualify for the federal government's free lunch program, made up 65% of the citywide school population last year, yet they were only 57% of charter school enrollment. That gap becomes even more glaring when you realize that charter schools are concentrated in the city's poorest neighborhoods, Harlem, the South Bronx and central Brooklyn, where even higher numbers of students qualify for free lunch. Then there's the disparity in special education enrollments. Last year, a review by city Controller Bill Thompson found less than 5% special education students in charter schools - far below the 15% citywide. In other words, if you have language problems, if you're poor, or if you have special needs, you're far more likely to end up in the regular public school population than in a charter school. "We've dealt with several cases of English Language Learners who couldn't get into charter schools, or if they were enrolled couldn't get the proper services," said Arlen Benjamin-Gomez of Advocates for Children. In some cases, those children were wrongly classified by charter school administrators as special education pupils, she said. "Charter schools need to do a better job attracting families who do not speak English in their homes," conceded Department of Education spokesperson Melody Meyer when asked about the problem. To compare charter schools with such skewed demographics to regular public schools is a bogus apples-to-oranges comparison - and charter school advocates need to admit that. As for the unprecedented rise in test scores, it couldn't have come at a better time for Bloomberg - just as he's running for reelection and weeks before the Legislature decides whether to extend mayoral control of the schools. As skeptics have noted, the federal government's national assessment tests keep puncturing the claims of local officials that New York tests scores have been rapidly improving. Results of the next national assessment won't be made public until November, so we won't know for sure until then. But I learned a long time ago that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.
Gov. Patrick discusses state budget crisis at Braintree forum
By Nancy Reardon BRAINTREE - A slide-show presentation explaining the severity of the state’s threadbare finances elicited agitated gasps and head-shaking from residents at a budget forum with the governor. About 100 people from surrounding communities and as far as Cambridge turned out Monday night at Thayer Public Library for the first of 36 public forums statewide on the budget crisis. Repeatedly calling the event an opportunity for “conversation,” Gov. Deval Patrick told the crowd he wanted their feedback on how to dig the state out of its financial hole. His staff will be noting “common themes” from all of the forums, he told reporters afterward. The state’s budget deficit is a total $8.9 billion from 2009 and for the next fiscal year starting July 1. Most lawmakers favor spending cuts and some form of higher taxes. When asked about the most palatable options for new revenue, many people spoke up against the proposed gas tax hike but favored new so-called “sin taxes” on candy, sweetened drinks and alcohol. Unlike gas, many said they go without the sugary items or cut down. They also noted its potential to help curb child obesity. Judith Gangel of Randolph suggested taxing candy even higher, depending on each product’s sugar content. A Braintree man who identified himself only as Tom, suggested a combination of smaller tax increases that wouldn’t hit one area too hard, such as a 10-cent gas tax hike instead of Patrick’s proposed 19 cents, and increasing the sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent. That “blended” approach also had support from Paul Meoni of Randolph, chairman of the town’s school committee, who warned against measures that would unfairly affect low-income families. “When you raise taxes and fees, think about who you are impacting and their ability to pay,” he told the governor. Another Braintree man, a retailer, spoke out against many of the proposed taxes, suggesting instead that Patrick focus on attracting more industry to the state and raise money through economic growth. During the forum, Sen. Michael Morrissey and Rep. Joseph Driscoll – whose districts cover Braintree – joined Patrick in the front of the crowd. The show of support from the two Democrats comes as many of their colleagues have accused Patrick of launching a re-election campaign against the Legislature. The governor has come down hard on lawmakers recently for not yet delivering reform bills for transportation, pensions or ethics – and has threatened to veto the sales tax proposal if it gets to his desk first. After the forum, Driscoll downplayed any divisions. “We share the same goals,” he said. “The tension is because we are in competing branches of government.”
Mass. early education commissioner pledges to maintain quality programs despite budget woes
By PETER GOONAN SPRINGFIELD - The state commissioner of early education said Wednesday she is intent on maintaining the quality of programs for children in the face of statewide budget cuts that will affect many agencies and services. Sherri R. Killins, who was sworn in as commissioner of early education and care in March, stopped in Springfield Wednesday to tour the Square One early childhood center on King Street. As she shared lunch with children and staff, the state Senate was seeking ways to make additional cuts to the state budget for the new fiscal year, beginning July 1. Killins said the Square One center is an example of a program that adds to "the whole child and the whole family." "It's exciting," she said. Square One is a private nonprofit organization that receives funding from public and private agencies. It operates five early childhood centers in Springfield and Holyoke, and offers various other programs and home-based child care services. While it is not known yet how state budget cuts will affect her department, Killins said the focus must remain on providing the best quality early childhood programs possible and ensure access "to prepare children and families to be successful in the 21st century." Her department has an annual budget of $575 million, including financial assistance to children of low-income families and licensing of early childhood programs. Killins said Gov. Deval L. Patrick has been supportive of early education "from day one." Square One officials and staff, including King Street Center Director Tommie L. Johnson, led the tour and shared information about programs including a new nutrition program in the research stage that stresses healthy eating, dental hygiene, and parental education. Joan B. Kagan, president and chief executive officer of Square One, said there is a feeling of nervousness as the state considers budget cuts that could affect early education efforts. Square One has an annual budget of approximately $10 million for all programs and centers, including more than $2 million from the Department of Early Education and Care, officials said. "We are very concerned about funding for early education and care," Kagan said. "We understand the economic situation in the state as well as the nation. We feel that funding early education and care is a strategic part of intervention for economic development." The statistics show that children are 30 percent more likely to graduate if they have an early education and care experience, Kagan said. In addition, there is a 60 percent return on the investment in early education, such as savings in the welfare system, the special education system, the criminal justice system, and child welfare and mental health systems, Kagan said. It helps students succeed and "will have a direct impact on the economy and health of a community," she said.
West Springfield school officials wrestling almost daily with federal, state budget changes
By ANGELA CARBONE WEST SPRINGFIELD - Layoffs and cuts to next year's school budget hinge on federal stimulus money and the strings attached as well as state aid. School Department officials told members of the City Council Monday that putting together the fiscal 2010 budget has been most challenging. The council was meeting to review the school and public works budgets. "We are on this constant roller coaster of what we know, what we don't know," Schools Superintendent Suzanne T. Marotta said. One day state aid figures indicated one scenario, while the next told a completely different scenario. Schools Business Manager Carey G. Sheehan said the numbers coming from the state Senate are getting worse. "It doesn't appear to be a pretty picture," he said. "We would be in big trouble without the stimulus," he said. Still, the federal stimulus money is proving as inconsistent as the state aid figures. Right now, the city is scheduled to receive $1.6 million in federal stimulus funding for education in this fiscal year that begins July 1. But the amount initially announced for use in fiscal 2011 has apparently shrunk, Sheehan said. The state has notified districts that there is a shortfall in the amount of Chapter 70 aid to education to be given in the fourth quarter of the current year. In order to fill the gap, the state is using federal stimulus money, Sheehan said. The result is that the district is eligible to receive less money in fiscal 2011, he said. Because the state is cutting Chapter 70 money this year, the School Department will need to ask the City Council to cut its budget by that amount. Then the schools will apply for grants through the stimulus funds to make up for those cuts, he said. The school district also will be eligible to apply for additional Title I and special education grants in the coming fiscal year. This will help, but only if the money is used in specific ways, Sheehan said. Marotta said changing job descriptions for some teachers will enable the district to achieve the funding. But the change must be approved through bargaining, she said. Assistant Schools Superintendent Kevin A. McQuillan said that layoff notices will be sent Friday to the district's 72 untenured teachers. That is the normal procedure, but this year there is a difference, he said. "We don't know until we see the Senate figures how deep (the cuts) will go," he said. In previous years, the notices went out, and teachers were notified they would be rehired before the end of the school year, McQuillan said. The funding for the schools recommended by the mayor is $35.26 million, a level-funded budget. "This is a minimum impact budget. We can live with this budget," Marotta said. "If we drop below this level, there's going to be major hurts," McQuillan added.
State facing years of fiscal woes, analysts say
By Nancy Reardon It took less than a year for the national recession to wreak havoc on state government, but the aftershocks on state budgets will reverberate far longer, making it likely that Massachusetts will be grappling with deep budget cuts and debates about tax increases for years to come, state officials and economists said yesterday. he problems are expected to be so widespread, the solutions so elusive, that the state may have to rethink the size of its commitment to big-ticket programs such as its landmark healthcare coverage plan, aid to cities and towns, and education funding, the specialists said at an emergency budget hearing convened yesterday by members of the state Senate. Several economic specialists who testified advised state officials to prepare for at least four years of budget problems, foreshadowed by dire records: State revenues declined 35 percent this April over last year, the worst ever. The fall in state revenues for this year, projected to be $3 billion less than budgeted, will probably also be the steepest in state history. "This is going to be the worst fiscal crisis in the state's history," said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "I think it's fair to say it's a catastrophe. That's not an overstatement." Widmer projects that state tax collections will not return to 2008 levels until at least 2014, as state revenues lag behind a slowly rebuilding economy. The declines will require Senate budget writers to reduce their revenue estimates for fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1. Governor Deval Patrick and House budget writers based their budgets on estimates that the state would get $19.5 billion in tax revenues next year. But economists said yesterday that the estimate should be reduced to as little as $17.7 billion; the state Department of Revenue put the figure at $18 billion to $18.2 billion. "It's a little uglier than we thought," Senate President Therese Murray told reporters after she made a surprise appearance at the hearing. "We decimate our human services and education systems, or we try to come to some kind of revenue [solution]. And even with additional revenue, how do you fill those numbers, how do you get to those numbers? It's very depressing." "It's going to be gloom and doom," she added, saying that local aid would almost certainly be cut next year. "There's no way around it." The tumbling economy eviscerates state revenue collections across the board. Lower earnings and higher unemployment eat into the income tax. The stock market freefall stripped away capital gains taxes. Fearful consumers shop less and buy less expensive things, drying up sales tax collections. The problems are only beginning. Patrick has so far chosen to balance a large portion of the budget with the state's reserve account, which began the year at $2.1 billion and is now down to $1.3 billion, along with one-time federal stimulus money. The state may have to drain most of the rainy day account at the end of this year simply to pay all its bills, leaving little room for error in years to come. "The cuts are going to be real now," said Senator Steven C. Panagiotakos, a Lowell Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. "We've been able to bandage a lot of it this fiscal year with one-time revenues. . . . That's not going to be the case in fiscal year 2010. There will be significant cuts everywhere." Unemployment levels will probably begin to recover later this year and early next year, economists say, but state revenues will lag behind. Revenues may begin to grow again in fiscal years 2011 and 2012, but not enough to make up for the drop-off once federal stimulus money is no longer an option. Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill said state spending will outpace revenues by $335 million in May and by $717 million in June. Even if the state stopped paying all its employees, Cahill said, it would not be enough to solve the current year's budget problems. State payroll is about $268 million per month, according to Cahill. He said the state could end up having to drain the $1.3 billion left in the state's rainy day fund to make a $1.2 billion local aid payment due June 30. "We just have to make cuts," he said. "We're spending more money than we're bringing in. We have to stop spending." The rapid decline is putting further pressure on the need to raise new taxes, as well as to revisit casino gambling. Murray said gambling revenues would not arrive in time to balance next year's budget, but he added that they could help solve future budget problems. "We're going to do it as fast as we can," Murray said. "But there has to be oversight and regulation put in first before we decide where and what type of gaming to do." Murray has opposed any increase in the income tax and said that the governor's proposals to increase taxes would not raise enough money. The House has approved an increase in the sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent, which would raise as much as $900 million. Patrick - who has promised to veto a sales tax hike unless the Legislature passes a series of ethics, pension, and transportation law changes - is planning to revise his budget proposal. He and Leslie Kirwan, the secretary of administration and finance, met with several economists yesterday. As nearly half the members of the Senate attended yesterday's revenue hearing, where five television cameras were set up, it became clear that the economic woes are having another impact: State lawmakers are running out of terms to describe how bad it is getting, using "catastrophic," "gloom and doom," and "very depressing." At one point, Panagiotakos was asked to rank how bad the situation is on a scale of 1 to 10. "Ten being the worst?" he said. "This is a 9 or a 10."
Early education pays dividends
by The Republican Sherri R. Killins, Massachusetts commissioner of early education and care, got down to basics this week during a visit to a Square One early childhood center on King Street in Springfield. After touring the center and sitting down at a preschooler's pint-sized table, Killins' message was unequivocal: While state budget cuts are looming, the commonwealth cannot waver from its commitment to provide the best quality early childhood programs possible "to prepare children and families to be successful in the 21st century." We hope legislators on Beacon Hill will help the state honor that commitment by resisting proposals to cut the early childhood budget. While some portions of Gov. Deval L. Patrick's ambitious eight-year education reform proposals might have to wait - including a plan to make community colleges free for all high school graduates - the push for universal preschool education must not lose momentum, even in the face of the economic downturn. Statistics show that children are 30 percent more likely to graduate from high school if they have an early education experience, according to John B. Kagan, president and chief executive officer of Square One. The advantages of preschool education have been shown in study after study. Nobel laureate James J. Heckman, for one, argues that early intervention for disadvantaged children promotes staying in school, raises the quality of the work force, enhances the productivity of schools and has the effect of reducing crime, teen pregnancy and dependency on welfare. Those savings add up to a 60 percent return on the investment in early education, Kagan said. The state's early education budget now stands at $575 million including financial assistance to children of low-income families and licensing of early childhood programs. Square One, which operates five centers in Springfield and Holyoke and offers various other programs and home-based child care services, has an annual budget of approximately $10 million including $2 million from the state. A Senate budget proposal recommends cutting $100,000 for Square One in Springfield. We hope the final budget will restore funding for this valuable program. Funding early childhood education is an investment in everyone's future.
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. In recent years, the progressive movement has succeeded in convincing more politically conscious young people to work in grassroots activism. Yet too few college students from underrepresented communities view careers in public policy as a way to further their activism after they graduate. DMI Scholars is a program designed specifically to address this challenge. It creates a national pipeline for college activists to enter government, offering extensive training, leadership development, and networking opportunities to enable today’s campus activists to become tomorrow’s policy experts.
The DMI Scholars Summer Institute will be held in New York City August 1- August 15, 2009. For more information about the program, please see our website: www.dmischolars.org.
Please visit:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Snap Schott is distributed by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. For more information, please visit www.schottfoundation.org. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
