Governor’s budget would set back progress in state school system

by Richard C. Iannuzzi

New York state is once again receiving national recognition for the high quality of its public school system. Education Week, an independent national publication that covers education issues, has ranked the state third in the nation (just slightly behind Maryland and Massachusetts) when it comes to providing the framework necessary to ensure student success.

In its annual “Quality Counts” report card — which takes a critical and comprehensive look at the educational structure in all 50 states and the District of Columbia — New York was given an A for standards, accountability and assessing performance. The state also scored an A-minus in spending and in providing early childhood education.

That New York should rate so high nationally should hardly come as a surprise. The state last year received repeated national attention from organizations such as the College Board, Education Trust and Education Week for narrowing the achievement gap, improving the graduation rate, and topping the nation in Advanced Placement test results.

Yet, despite the accolades, there remains room for improvement.

There still remains too large an achievement gap between students in wealthy and poor districts, most frequently affecting children of color. Overall student performance on standardized tests continues to lag at the middle-school level as well.

While the recent Education Week report shows New York public’s education system is on the right track, Gov. David Paterson’s proposed executive budget represents for our schools a roadblock that threatens not only to obstruct the state’s academic progress but also derail it altogether.

Under the governor’s proposed budget, school aid is slashed by $700 million. But the actual aid cut would total $2.5 billion when factoring in the $1.9 billion allocation the state is required to pay schools under terms of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision addressing aid inequities between wealthy and poor districts.

Paterson’s budget would also freeze foundation aid and universal pre-kindergarten funding through 2011, and eliminate $1.1 billion in formula-based aids for 2009-10, leaving individual districts with cuts ranging from 3 percent to 13 percent. Locally, for instance, Middletown faces a possible 3 percent cut in aid, while Cornwall could see a reduction of as much as 14 percent.

Though New York received high overall marks in the Education Week report, when it came to improving teacher quality through “incentives and allocations” the state’s grade plummeted to a D.

Teacher quality and student success are inextricably linked. But Paterson’s budget would actually push the teaching profession backward by targeting for elimination the entire $40 million allocation used to fund Teacher Centers, which provide high-quality professional development to approximately 267,000 teachers and 41,000 teacher assistants statewide. His budget would also eliminate the $10 million used to pay for the state’s critical Teacher Mentor-Intern program, which enables experienced educators to provide guidance and support to those in their first or second year of teaching.

One needs only to look to California to see the harmful toll that budget cuts have exacted on public schools. The Golden State now spends only $7,541 per student — $5,500 less than New York and roughly $1,500 below the national average. Once considered the national model, California’s public school system in the Education Week report is now ranked 26th nationwide.

Certainly, New York’s fiscal crisis is very real. But it is during tough times like this when government has a moral obligation to provide the continuation of critical public services — and, like health care, education is at the top of that list.

Now is the time to invest in our public schools, not dismantle them. Our children’s success depends on it.

Richard C. Iannuzzi is president of New York State United Teachers.