A study of Massachusetts students finds that charter schools close the achievement gap, the first such study in an area with a large Hispanic population.
Similar results came out of a 2009 study of New York City schools.
Cahill calls for effective education commission
Assemblyman Kevin Cahill (D-Kingston) is criticizing the governor’s plans and floating one of his own.
Saying the governor’s cuts to shared services fund will hurt opportunities to make education more efficient, Cahill introduced legislation to require school districts to come up with consolidation plans.
The 21st Century Schools Act (A.9510) aims to maximize BOCES role and increase regional approaches totransportation and special education.
The act would also create a panel to study this issues.
“This is not another powerless blue ribbon panel,” said Assemblymember Cahill. “My plan calls for input from local activists, parents, teachers, administrators, taxpayers and other education advocates and actually puts their ideas to work. The Commission’s report would automatically go into effect unless voted down in the entirety by the Legislature.”
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Will Gov. withhold school aid again in March?
The superintendent grapevine is talking about whether Gov. David Paterson will withhold state aid payments again in March.
Paterson withheld school aid and STAR rebate money in December citing a state cash flow problem. He repaid the money in mid-January.
Although education advocacy groups sued the governor over the issue, they stalled in court last month to give him the chance to pay the money back.
The education groups have waffled as to whether the suit is about the money or the principal. In December, Tim Kremer, executive director of the New York State School Boards Association, thought the suit would go forward whether or not the governor paid the money back. Educators wanted a legal opinion that would bar the governor from delaying payments again, he said.
Yet the suit is still in a holding pattern. There’s a hearing next week, and NYSUT spokesman Carl Korn said talks about what to do are ongoing. The options: continue, drop the suit or suspend it on the condition that the state does not delay payments again.
As for the validity of superintendent worries, state budget office spokesman Matt Anderson neither confirmed nor denied them. He wrote in an email any “actions that will be necessary in March have not yet been determined.” He also noted that the still has a projected $500 million current-year deficit and March is the state’s largest month for expenditures.
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Feds emphasize transparency, state posts Race application
The state education department posted the state’s Race to the Top application on the web Friday.
New York was one of only five states that initially failed to make its application publicly available after submitting it Jan. 19, according to the Education Writers Association. Officials said they would not release the application until after the winners were announced, saying that it would hurt the state’s competitiveness.
However, in a media call on the State of the Union, education secretary Arne Duncan dismissed that notion. He emphasized that the process should be transparent to the public and leaders nationwide should learn from each others’ proposals
The state then posted its application Friday. The Race to the Top is a competive program among states for $4 billion in stimulus money that aims to change approaches to education nationwide.
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Will the feds bail out local schools?
Many states, including New York, are using federal stimulus money to close holes in budget gaps.
Originally, our state planned to use its $7.2 billion over two years, but in December Gov. David Paterson pointed out that the state was running out of cash. Instead of cutting overpromised school aid mid-year, the legislature voted to use $391 million in stimulus for the 2009-2010 school year.
What was left? Paterson is proposing using the remaining $726 million to close a $2.1 billion education budget hole.
What does that mean? The $1.4 million in cuts proposed by the governor, including $49 million to mid-Hudson districts, come after the stimulus money was exhausted.
Some hopefully speculated that more bailout money would be on the way. But in Wednesday’s State of the Union speech, Obama announced an additional $1.3 billion for Race to the Top, which will benefit only selected states. Another $1 billion proposed increase would come only if Congress reauthorizes the Elementary and Seconday Education Act.
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Education reform expert speaks at lecture series
In the first talk of a new lecture series, author John Taylor Gatto will speak about education reform.
Gatto is a former State Teacher of the Year and the author of “Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling” and several other books. He’s given hundred of talks and interviews on how he believes schools are failing children and what can be done to fix them.
The Hudson River Lyceum is a new lecture series devoted to fostering debate on important public policy issues.
The lecture is at 7 p.m. May 29 at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. For more information, go to the Hudson River Lyceum blog.
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Monticello superintendent starts blog
Superintendent Pat Michel of the Monticello School District announced the launch of his new blog Monday.
Titled “Educational Leadership and the Impact of Federal and State Policy on Public Education,” the blog’s first two articles take a look at closing the achievement gap among students both locally and internationally in a changing education environment.
Michel writes: “What is unique about this Blog is that it will be written by a practitioner. A
Superintendent who is dealing with the political, economic and policy changes
impacting our school district, state and nation. Monticello Central School
District like all other school districts cannot stand alone or solve our
problems alone. It is only through open and honest discussion and exchange of
ideas that we can deal with the changes we are facing.”
Read more at http://montisullivan.blogspot.com/.
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School stimulus transparency and accountability 101
I set out about two weeks ago to find out exactly what formula and numbers were being used to calculate federal stimulus funding for Title I grants. As The Record has reported, Kiryas Joel School District is receiving a large amount of money, while Highland Falls is receiving none. I have asked six spokesmen at the state and federal level to explain the process and provide specific numbers.
Both federal and state officials have publicly noted that the distribution of federal stimulus money would be more transparent than any process we’ve seen before and have a high level of accountability.
Here’s what they mean:
A U.S. Department of Education spokesman deferred comment to Congress, which approved the formula.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. George Miller, the House education chair, deferred answers to the New York State Governor’s Office and provided a link to the Title I Act. After prodding, the spokesman offered a canned quote and deferred further comment to the state.
A governor’s budget office employee deferred comment to the governor’s press office.
The governor’s press office directed me to the governor’s budget office spokesman.
A governor’s press office spokesman then talked with the budget office spokesman and directed me to the state education press office.
The state education receptionist said all stimulus questions were to go to the budget office. Upon insistence and an email, the department of education press office agreed to answer my questions last Thursday.
With no answers as of Monday, I again called the governor’s press office, who contacted the department of education spokesman. I was promised answers by the end of business Tuesday.
It is the end of the day on Wednesday.
The state comptroller’s office spokeswoman said they are currently developing their procedures for accountability and oversight. For further comment she said I should talk to the lead agency at the federal level.
I think I can guess what they’ll tell me.
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New Windsor native receives Chancellor Award
Allison Duarte, of New Windsor, was among four SUNY New Paltz students to receive the 2009 Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence earlier this month.
Duarte is a journalism student and was recognized along with Jessica Golian, a
childhood education student from Roslyn Heights; Bexis Matos, a
journalism and public relations student from the Bronx; and Benjamin Olsen, a business economics
student from Patterson.
Statewide 238 students received the award, which requires a 3.77 or higher GPA and that students made a contribution to their community or college.
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Comment on common standards for schools
The first draft of common standards that could change the approach to educatton nationwide was made public today by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Called the Common Core Standards, the initiative has been working with teachers, administrators and public officials to create a framework to prepare children for college and the workforce.
Education secretary Arne Duncan has proposed making the adoption of the final standards as part of a requirement for states receiving Title I federal funds.
The groups are accepting feedback on the evidence-based standards through April 2. Check the standards out here.