Action needed as NYS budget approval nears

Last week (March 20) Dr. Rick Timbs, the Executive Director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, and I were guests on The Capitol PressRoom with correspondent Susan Arbetter. (Click here link to listen to the program) [Note: interview begins approx. 23 minutes into recording]

Dr. Timbs and I were invited to react to several factors proposed by state leaders that impact funding for local education, including state aid, the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), charter schools and a property tax “freeze” as the clock ticks down, and the governor and legislators continue to negotiate a deal on the state’s budget.

 

Legislative budget proposals

This month, both houses of the Legislature presented separate budget bills that will be amended before a state budget is finalized on April 1. Each plan has its merits—and its flaws. Both proposals include more funding for education than the governor’s executive budget, which is heartening. 

The Assembly’s bill calls for an increase in Foundation Aid—this is basic operating aid for schools that has essentially decreased or remained flat for the past several years, even as operational costs have continued to soar. The Senate’s budget proposal offers no additional Foundation Aid; it does, however, restore more GEA funding than what the governor and the Assembly have proposed—and the Senate plan promises to phase out the GEA entirely in two years.

School leaders across the state, including me, have been pleading with state leaders to end the GEA, which has systematically been diminishing our ability to provide a high-quality education to all New York students—regardless of zip code. Now that state’s economy is on the upswing and Governor Cuomo has declared the state has a surplus, that funding should rightfully be returned to the schools, which have helped shouldered the brunt of the state’s economic crisis during the past four years. (Read my February blog for an explanation of the effects the GEA on Watervliet schools, or download WCSD's GEA infographic)

 

Major concerns persist

Still neither the Assembly’s nor the Senate’s plans appropriately address the dire and imminent fiscal challenges our school district faces; in fact, the Senate’s proposal contains some troubling recommendations, including an increase in funding to charter schools and a permanent property tax freeze.

I take issue with the Senate’s resolution that would increase funding to charter schools. Some may wonder why a proponent of education would be opposed to this. Simply put, like the GEA, charter schools siphon much-needed funding away from our public schools; and yet, charters are not held to the same level of accountability as public school districts. 

Others may question why this matters, since there are no charter schools within the City of Watervliet. While that is true, several charters exist in our neighboring cities of Albany and Troy, and by law, parents may apply to send their children to a charter school, if one is located within a specific distance of their resident school district. When a Watervliet parent enrolls a child in a charter school, the district must pay “tuition” to the charter. At present, our district pays tuition of $9,400 per student. This year 38 students are enrolled in charter schools, which results in nearly $360,000 in aid being diverted from our district directly to those other schools.

I also am deeply concerned about the devastating consequences that would result from a tax cap freeze, proposed in one form or other by the governor and the Senate, and which the Senate wants to make permanent. Dr. Timbs, a leading expert on school finance, predicts that a property tax freeze will only benefit more affluent communities in the state, and continue to shortchange the low-wealth, high-needs schools like Watervliet. (Read more about how the NYS Senate Budget Resolution will harm children)

During our Capitol PressRoom appearance, Dr. Timbs hit on an important point. He said that state officials have failed to live up to their “constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education for New York's students.”

 

With clock ticking ... Time is of the essence

The disparity between small city high-needs school districts and wealthier, low-to-average-needs schools is significant. As this gap widens, we are able to offer fewer programs and less opportunities for our students.

If this alarms you—TAKE ACTION NOW before the state adopts it budget! Call, email or Tweet our elected officials! Post messages on your FaceBook page to share with friends. We must do whatever it takes to offer our students the education they deserve!

Step 1 to relieve our fiscal stress: end GEA now!

Since becoming superintendent two years ago, I have been very candid about our district’s fiscal challenges. I have spoken about it frequently during budget workshops and presentations, and written about it often in this blog, (even referencing “Education’s fiscal cliff” in a blog posted in November 2012).

In mid-January, the Watervliet school district was thrust into the spotlight after landing at the top of the New York State Comptroller’s Office report of the most fiscally stressed public schools in the state. 

Under the state’s new Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, 87 school districts statewide—or 13 percent—were designated in some level of fiscal stress, which is determined by such financial indicators as year-end fund balance, cash position and patterns of operating deficits.

The comptroller’s report itself garnered widespread media attention around the state, but as you might imagine being named the most fiscally strapped school district in the state resulted in a flurry of interviews and local media reports that gave me an opportunity to offer context about our district’s fiscal pressures.
(Times Union article/Jan. 16 2014, NYSSBA On Board/Feb. 10, 2014, CBS6 Schools in financial distress/Jan. 19, 2014, WTEN Schools in Fiscal Stress Report/Jan. 18, 2014)

 

How did our school district get here?  

 

In his press release, NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli acknowledged that, “… reductions in state aid, a cap on local revenue and decreased rainy day funds are creating financial challenges that more and more school districts are having trouble overcoming. My office’s fiscal stress scores highlight the need for school district officials to manage their finances carefully with an eye towards long-range planning and how they can operate more efficiently.”

I agree with Mr. DiNapoli’s assessment—state aid reductions and the tax levy cap have placed significant financial pressure on schools. I would argue, however, that the issue, especially for districts deemed in significant or moderate fiscal stress, is more complicated than merely a need to “manage finances more carefully.” Three factors by and large have brought us to where we are today:

1. a lack of equitable and adequate state funding; 
2. the state’s Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), which has resulted in a $4 million loss of revenue for Watervliet schools alone over the past four years; and 
3. an unending barrage of unfunded mandates that schools must comply with, which increase spending.

First, the inequitable disbursement of state aid continues to shortchange small city schools disproportionately. As a result, districts like ours have made many difficult, often unpopular choices to balance our budgets. In Watervliet, we have downsized staff across the board—instructional, support staff and administrator positions alike, in recent years. In some cases, these reductions have led to larger class sizes. We have cut advanced placement courses and summer school programs; eliminated athletic teams (tennis, bowling and modified sports); and offer fewer extracurricular opportunities for students than before.

It is well past time that our state leaders take action and overhaul the school funding system to ensure that schools in small urban communities receive equitable and sufficient funding so that all New York’s children receive a comparable, high-caliber education regardless of their zip code. 

Second, our elected leaders must also eliminate the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), another major fiscal stressor confronting our schools. Enacted by then-Governor David Paterson in 2010, the GEA was supposed to be a temporary fix allowing state government to close its own budget shortfall by reducing the share of Foundation Aid that had been promised to schools across the state. Watervliet has lost approximately $4 million in the past four years because of the GEA, and will lose another $500,000 in 2014-15, if state leaders fail to act.

Now that the state’s economy appears to have turned the corner—the governor says the state has a budget surplus—the time has come to do away with the GEA and restore school funding to levels that enable us to offer the education and opportunities that prepare students to be college and career ready in today’s ultra-competitive global economy.

Finally, the state and/or federal governments regularly enact new mandates that school districts must comply with that encompass many areas of school operations, including instruction, transportation, health and safety. More often than not, however, these new regulations come unfunded, or underfunded, which again drives up the cost of operating schools. While mandates increase accountability, and in many cases, help improve educational quality, implementing them without adequate funding only piles on the fiscal stress that schools face.

Whether or not you have children in our schools, a robust education is vital to the future of both our city and our state. For that reason, it is important that parents, community members, students, teachers and staff alike be informed, be engaged and advocate for our schools! The best way to support Watervliet's schools and students is to contact our elected officials in Albany and urge them to end the state’s Gap Elimination Adjustment, fix the inequities in the school funding system and place a moratorium on new mandates.

Visit our district’s website for information on advocating for your schools. A list of state legislators and their contact information is also available on our site. Get involved today!

It is past time to do better for students

“We can do better, we must do better, we will do better. Let’s invest in the future, let’s re-imagine our classrooms for the next generation, let's have the smartest classrooms in the nation because our children deserve nothing less than the best.” —Governor Andrew Cuomo (2014 State of the State)

I happen to agree with the Governor: our children deserve nothing less than the best.

Unfortunately, that is not what they have received during the past several years. Watervliet’s students, like many others growing up in small cities and rural towns across the state, have been and continue to be shortchanged when it comes to receiving the high-quality education they not only deserve, but also need to thrive in a highly-competitive workforce and to become productive citizens of New York State.

An important point missing from Governor Cuomo’s speech is that more than $387 million in state aid to education has been withheld from public schools in our region over the past four years because of a measure the state has used to close its budget deficits called the Gap Elimination Adjustment (or GEA).

New York State has used the GEA to balance its own budget shortfall—at the expense of every child in the state. In Watervliet, this equates to a loss of $4 million in aid that we would have received, if not for the GEA. As a result, our schools have been forced to cut programs, eliminate jobs, increase class sizes and defer vital technology improvements and other instructional necessities.

In addition to the GEA, a persistent lack of state leadership on equitable school funding and the failure to achieve real mandate relief continues to cripple our ability in Watervliet to preserve the academic programs students need to be college and career ready upon graduation.

It’s the time of year when my focus turns to developing next year’s school budget. If nothing is done to eliminate the GEA, our schools will again suffer staff and program reductions to offset the loss of state aid for a fifth consecutive year—that is unless all of us take immediate action to stop it.

How?

I invite you to join me and others who are concerned about the plight of our schools and public education funding in general, for a regional advocacy event—New York schools STILL in fiscal peril: Our kids can’t wait another year—on Thursday, January 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Colonie Central High School.

This event follows last year’s highly successful advocacy forum that brought together students, parents, teachers, taxpayers, legislators and school leaders to talk about what is at stake if state leaders take no action to eradicate the GEA and fix the broken system so that our schools receive adequate and equitable funding from the state.

At this year’s event, we will again call for an end to the GEA as we hear directly from students, teachers, parents and school leaders as they describe how the funding crisis has affected programs and opportunities that are important to them and their communities.

If you would like to attend this important forum, please call my office at 629-3201, or email bboardma@vliet.neric.org.

Save the date! Show your support for ours schools on January 30.

Holiday wishes, Core beliefs

It seems like just yesterday the school year began, and yet winter is here and holiday recess begins next week!

With that in mind, I thank teachers, staff, students and parents for their kindness and their generosity this holiday season. Throughout the month of December, our Junior High Student Council has had its annual Adopt-an-Angel program while the High School Student Council has collected food for the local food bank. Teachers and staff from both buildings (WES, WJSHS) have bought gifts for children of local families in need to help make their holidays brighter.

Please take time this season to enjoy the most cherished gift of all—time spent with family and friends. I wish everyone peace and joy this holiday season.

Thoughts on the Common Core

Switching gears, you may have seen an article in the Times Union (Dec. 15) about the Common Core Learning Standards that featured interviews with educators from Watervliet. The article, which offers a glimpse into the efforts our teachers put forth each and every day to implement the new learning standards, has generated a good deal of positive feedback.

When I met earlier this month with the new education reporter who wrote the article, the topic of the state’s learning standards came up in conversation. At the time, I expressed that by and large, teachers in our district had ‘embraced’ the new learning standards, which seemed to surprise the reporter.

That is understandable given that the Common Core continues to make headlines almost daily and is often the topic of debate. At issue is the pace of implementation, concern regarding the amount of testing, or a combination of the two.

Most educators I know are not opposed to the higher academic expectations inherent in the new learning standards. I think that confusion surrounding the Common Core persists in general because, as polling suggests, there is not widespread understanding of the standards. In fact, a Siena Research Poll released in mid-November found that 41 percent of those surveyed were either "not very familiar" or "not at all familiar" with the Common Core standards.

As a result, misinformation about the standards abounds. The Common Core Learning Standards, which aim to improve student knowledge of math and reading, were developed to address a concern that U.S. students were lagging behind their international peers in college and career readiness. Education leaders from several states began writing the new standards in 2009 and received guidance from the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

New York is among the 45 states and the District of Columbia that have adopted the Common Core Learning Standards. The New York State Board of Regents adopted the Common Core standards in 2010 with the intention of better preparing all students for college and career in a rapidly changing world. The standards create consistent expectations at each grade level for students throughout their K-12 education.

Providing necessary support for teachers
I am proud to say that Watervliet is among a handful of districts across the state that Deputy State Education Commissioner Ken Slentz has said he considers to be “executing well” the implementation of the Common Core. A number of our teachers have appeared in State Education Department videos demonstrating high-quality lessons that address Common Core instructional shifts and goals.

Our school leaders recognize the integral role professional development plays in helping teachers make necessary adjustments in the classroom. Through grant funding, we are able to provide our teachers professional development each week with literacy and math instructional coaches from the Capital Region BOCES.

Even with support, change can often be difficult and challenging. Our teachers from kindergarten through grade 12 have embraced the changes and risen to the challenges of implementing the new learning standards. Their focus has been and will continue to be inspiring, challenging and educating every student, every day; that will never change.

Again, enjoy the holiday season everyone!

Thank you School Related Professionals!

 

Today (Nov. 19) is School Related Professionals Day—a recognition of all the unsung heroes who make a positive difference in the lives of our students and provide support for our teachers and our schools.

 

In 2007, the New York State Legislature officially designated the third Tuesday of each November as School-Related Professionals Day—as a  special day to honor and celebrate school-related professionals including school bus drivers, food service workers, teaching assistants, school nurses, custodial and maintenance workers, and clerical and support staff in schools.

 

So whether you are driving our students on a bus, feeding our children in the cafeteria, cleaning our hallways and classrooms, or assisting teachers with our learners, your hard work and dedication is much appreciated.

 

We thank you today and every day for going above and beyond to meet the needs of our schools and our students.

Requests for APPR scores

Beginning this month, all parents/guardians will have the right to request Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) quality ratings and composite effectiveness scores for their child's current year teacher(s) and principal(s).

To receive your child's teacher or principal evaluation score, parents and legal guardians must make a request in person, or in writing, starting October 15, on the district’s official Teacher/Principal Composite Score Request Form.

A district or building administrator will provide teacher/principal composite scores verbally to the parent or legal guardian during a scheduled appointment.

When making a request for teacher/principal scores please be aware of the following:

1.  To obtain scores, parents/guardians must first submit an official request form.  (A separate form must be completed for each score requested.)
2. At the time the request is made, clerical staff will ask for identification (i.e. driver’s license, passport, etc.) to verify the person making the request has legal guardianship of the student(s) and is therefore entitled to the teacher/principal effectiveness score. 
3. Every effort will be made to schedule an appointment with the appropriate building/district administrator within seven working days of the request submission. 
4. During the appointment, the administrator will provide the composite score verbally to the parent or legal guardian.

It is also important to note:

• Parents/guardians may only request scores for the teacher(s) and/or principal of record for your child in the 2013-2014 school year.
• Teachers will be notified when parents request their scores.
• The law requires districts to “verify that any such request is a bona fide request by a parent or guardian entitled to review and receive such data.”
• An appeal of the APPR by the teacher/principal will delay providing this information until such time as the appeal is decided.
• You may request to receive the final rating and composite score for your child’s teacher(s) and/or principal, as well as an explanation of such ratings, in person or in writing.
• The new evaluation system will not change current district practices for assigning students to teachers, and requests for such action will not be honored. 
• Teacher/principal APPR information is not considered public information, and as such, is not subject to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

More about APPR
APPR is the process by which teachers and principals are evaluated in New York State.  The purpose of evaluation is not punitive, rather it is intended to improve the quality of instruction in schools, and to encourage and promote improved student performance and readiness for college and careers.

APPR plans must meet strict state guidelines and are negotiated locally by the district’s employee labor unions.

Under state guidelines, APPR is based on classroom observations, student test scores, and a variety of achievement and assessment measures – many of which are decided at the local level. Teachers and principals across New York ultimately receive a number grade every year, which equates to an effectiveness rating.

In accordance with Education Law §3012-c, parents or legal guardians of a child in the Watervliet City School District have the right to obtain information related to the Annual Professional Performance Review of their child’s current teachers or principal. 

The district will accept requests to receive teacher or principal scores starting October 15, 2013.

Request forms and additional information below:

Parent Request Form (pdf)

Questions and Answers about APPR (pdf)

Parent Guide to the APPR (pdf)

NYS exam scores mailed: What it means for your child
Parents will receive individual student scores for the New York State English language arts and math assessments in grades 3-8 taken last spring with their child’s interim reports, which we expect to mail the week of Oct. 7.

These reports indicate the scores and performance level for your child on the given assessments. As a result of the transition to the new Common Core Learning Standards, state education leaders expected that student scores across New York would be significantly lower than the year before. You may find that echoed in your child’s score. The NYS Commissioner of Education asked school officials to assure parents that these latest proficiency scores “do not reflect a drop in performance, but rather a raising of standards to reflect college and career readiness in the 21st century.”

Watervliet educators encourage parents to reassure children that any test is just one measure—a snapshot in time—of academic progress. Students and parents should know that this is a new system for everyone, and the tests given last spring were more challenging than those taken by students in prior years. We do not interpret these lower test scores to mean that our students are not learning or that our teachers are not teaching.

While Watervliet school leaders continue to evaluate the results of the state assessments, we also consider them in the context of the larger purpose of education, which is to make sure that students have the skills, knowledge, and experiences required for college and career readiness.

Parents whose children received a Level 1 or 2 on the NYS math and/or ELA assessments will receive a separate letter from their child’s principal outlining the instructional plans or services that Watervliet has put in place to help build upon their child’s future success.

If you have questions, please contact your child’s principal. Additional information about Common Core, interpreting state test scores, what parents can do to help their children learn, and more can be found on the Parent & Family Resources web page on the State Education Department's EngageNY website.

Please be assured that we will continue to review and analyze data, identify areas for improvement, and  adjust instruction as necessary during the school year.

On behalf of our teachers, principals and staff, I promise you that we remain committed to our mission to educate, inspire and challenge every student, every day.

New beginnings: pivotal transitions and the new school year

Summer 2013 has been a busy time marked by physical transformation in our schools, as well as administrative changes to begin the new school year.

I am eager to welcome back students and staff to school next week and am excited about new developments that have taken place in recent weeks that will strengthen our ability to provide every student the high-quality education they need and deserve.

Aside from the many visible renovations in our buildings and construction of a new athletic field, the most significant change students, staff and parents will notice as the new school year begins on Wednesday, Sept. 4 is the administrative changes occurring at both buildings.

With the release of the New York State assessment results in August, we now have the baseline data needed to hit the reset button and begin again to move the district forward, implement best practices and demonstrate continued student growth.

In the weeks since, it became clear that to accomplish our goals and meet our top priority—preparing students from pre-K through grade 12 for college and careers in a global economy—we would need to be proactive in our effort to maximize the strengths of all administrators, teachers and staff across the district.

With that in mind, longtime WJSHS high school assistant principal David Wareing will serve this year as the assistant principal and UPK director at WES. Literacy coordinator Suzanne Guntlow will assume the role of assistant principal at WJSHS, and will continue to facilitate professional development for teachers that focuses on strengthening students’ literacy skills and improving performance at the junior high school level.

Reading, writing, listening and speaking skills are the foundation for student success in all subject areas, which is why I firmly believe this shift in administrators, particularly, having Suzanne on site at WJSHS as a member of the administrative team and as a resource for her peers, is in the best interests of our students.

Principals Ryan Groat and Terri O’Brien will continue to lead WJSHS and WES, respectively, while Michael Foust will remain as the district’s athletics coordinator and serve in the new title of Dean of Students.

Our district welcomes a new School Resource Officer (SRO) this year, Watervliet Police Officer Josh Spratt. He takes over for Sgt. Mark Spain whose dedicated service over the past six years made a significant and positive impact on the lives of students and staff. School administrators and I look forward to working with Officer Spratt and continuing a strong, collaborative partnership that enhances student safety and promotes smart choices and positive behaviors in our school

Deeds and expectations
I recently attended a conference during which New York State Education Commissioner Dr. John King Jr. spoke at length about making sure our “daily deeds match our expectations.”  I encourage all teachers and staff to make every effort possible this year to make sure that our daily deeds align with and achieve our mission to educate, inspire and challenge every student, every day.

I invite parents to become more involved with your child’s schools and encourage the community to become our partner in education. We must all work together to support our community’s young people and increase their opportunities for success. 

In preparing to begin my third year as superintendent of schools, it continues to be an honor working with such talented and committed administrators, educators and support staff, and serving this community and its children.

I also want to recognize and thank our maintenance staff for the enormous amount of time and energy they put in these last few weeks to get our buildings and classrooms ready for the return of students and staff. Your teamwork has been nothing short of amazing!

I look forward to the beginning of a productive and successful school year—until then enjoy these last few lazy, hazy days of summer!