Over the past 40 years, researchers who have attempted to measure the effect of schools on student achievement have often come to the conclusion that student background characteristics (e.g., race, parental education, income) exert a greater influence on achievement than do the schools; perhaps the best known of these studies was the 1966 Coleman Study. Some studies that followed the Coleman Study have found stronger school effects; however, the effects still tend to be relatively small and outweighed by student characteristics. More recently, a body of research has begun to emerge that does support the contention that schools, and specifically teachers, do have a significant impact on student learning. In his research, William Sanders has found that teacher effectiveness is "the single biggest factor influencing gains in achievement, an influence many times greater than poverty or per-pupil expenditures." http://www.ascd.org/publications/researchbrief/volume1/v1n11.html (PEN Weekly NewsBlast for May 30, 2003)
This report summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report, which is required by law, is an indicator report intended for a general audience of readers who are interested in education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The 2003 print edition includes 44 indicators in six main areas. This edition also includes a special analysis on the reading achievement and classroom experiences of kindergartners and 1st graders. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003067(PEN Weekly NewsBlast for May 30, 2003)
Despite the governor's statewide commercial on last night's news, the state legislature has begun to override the governor's veto of the state budget. There are 119 vetoes and each must be overridden individually. As of this writing, the Assembly has already overridden all of the education items contained in the vetoed bill. The Senate reiterated its pledge yesterday to override and they making good on it this afternoon and evening. 100 votes out of 150 are necessary to override in the Assembly. All votes were in the 113-37 range. The Assembly Republicans stuck with the governor with the exception of Assembly Members Alfano, Barra, Casale, Kirwan, Manning, McDonough, Miller, O'Connell and Prentiss. Votes in the Senate have thus far been unanimous in favor of an override. Senator Paterson, the Democrat leader of the Senate has pledged the support of all of his members. Senate Majority Leader Bruno is quoted as saying "The legislature will have the last word and the last word is "override". As such, districts may be fairly certain of the availability of funds restored by the legislature.
In yesterday's press conference, the governor stated his belief that the legislature's restorations for education were "unconstitutional". He did not say that he would sue, but indicated that someone may choose to do so. Such a lawsuit should not encumber any of the restored money. In the past, such lawsuits have taken years and have never involved any withholding of state funds. Lawsuits debating the constitutionality of state budget practices are still in the courts from the last time the governor vetoed items out of the state budget. Funds provided in that budget were not encumbered while the suit was pending and should not be this year, should someone eventually sue over these restorations.
NYSSBA will continue to provide updates as warranted.
David Little
Director of Governmental Relations
New York State School Boards Association
24 Century Hill Drive, Suite 200
Latham, New York 12110-2125
(518) 783-0200 ext 3723
fax (518) 783-3542
(800) 342-3360
david.little@nyssba.org
Governor Pataki is reputedly ready to veto between 120-140 specific lines of the budget passed by the state legislature. He has purchased 2 minutes of television time across the state during tonight's evening news to explain his position. The message is paid from the governor's campaign funds and will air between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The legislature will begin the process of overriding the vetoes perhaps as early as late tonight or tomorrow. Both houses continue to provide assurances that override attempts will be successful. In fact, a number of Assembly Republicans who did not vote for the original budget are now poised to vote for the veto override. (The governor himself has indicated that he "may well lose this fight"). The governor also indicated that he will sign legislation reducing the employer contribution rate to the Employees Retirement System from 11% to 4.5% for this year, allowing districts to factor in the reduction into spending plans.
Though the veto override process may be protracted over a number of days, legislative leaders remain publicly committed to the restorations spelled out in the state aid runs previously provided to districts.
Today is the deadline for providing the Property Tax Report Card to the State Education Department. Though this report must be filed today, SED has previously indicated that districts may revise their spending plan up to the day of the district's budget public hearing (between 14 and 7 days prior to the vote on June 3rd) providing they have not previously sent out absentee ballots and providing that in doing so, it does not cause voter confusion.
NYSSBA will continue to provide updates as events unfold.
A NATION AT RISK: The Next Generation CHAT TRANSCRIPT
Read the transcript from EDUCATION WEEK on the WEB's first online chat, marking the 20th anniversary of "A Nation at Risk," the National Commission on Excellence in Education's influential rallying cry for raising expectations and improving performance in American schools. The chat featured guests Michelle Fine, Milton Goldberg, and Theodore Sizer, discussing what's right and what's wrong in American education today. Find the transcript here:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/tb/tblive/risk_transcript.htm
"To the best of our ability to discern, we have included only links to electronic journals that are scholarly, peer-reviewed, full text and accessible without cost. We have excluded professional magazines that are largely not refereed, and commercial journals that may only allow access to a very limited number of articles as an enticement to buy. By restricting membership in this way on the list that follows, we hope to do what little we can to promote free access world wide to scholarship in education." http://aera-cr.ed.asu.edu/ejournals/index.html
The New York State Senate today joined the Assembly in overriding the governor's veto of A. 8023/S. 4286 changing the date of the annual school district budget vote and school board elections from May 20 to June 3. The vote was 58-0. At about the same time, the governor called the legislative budget (as it's been revealed thus far), "irresponsible," according to the Associated Press, and promised to use his veto to prevent it becoming law.
The new vote date is mandatory, not optional. Below is NYSSBA's interpretation of the legislation and the new timeline it sets for district budgets and board elections.
Alternate Timeline -- 2003 Annual Budget Vote
& School Board Election
(as per A.8023/S.4286)
April 19 - Districts publish first of four public notices of budget vote and board election 45 days prior to budget vote.
May 5 - School board candidate nominating petitions due in the office of the District Clerk by 5:00 p.m. 30 days before election (except in small cities) .
May 14 - Deadline for districts to transmit "Property Tax Report Card" to SED (i.e. 20 days prior to vote).
May 14 - School board candidate nominating petitions due in small city school districts in office of District Clerk by 5:00 p.m. 20 days prior to election.
May 13-20 - Districts complete budget document 7 days prior to public hearing on the budget.
May 20-27 - Boards hold public hearing on the budget 7-14 days prior to vote.
May 20-June 3 - Copies of the budget must be available to the public during 14 days prior to vote.
May 28 - Deadline for mailing "Budget Notice" (this is the "postcard") 6 days prior to vote.
June 3 - Annual Meeting and Election (i.e. the Budget Vote and School Board Election)
Jay Worona, Director of Legal/Policy Services
David Little, Director of Governmental Relations
New York State School Boards Association
24 Century Hill Drive, Suite 200
Latham, New York 12110-2125
Phone: (518) 783-0200
Fax: (518) 783-0211
jay.worona@nyssba.org
david.little@nyssba.org
Visit the NYSSBA website at http://www.nyssba.org
NYSSBA: Education and Equity for All
Congratulations! After months of effort on your part and the part of your state association, the state legislature has passed the education portion of the state budget. In the face of the largest proposed education aid reduction in state history, the legislature responded by passing one of the largest restorations on record. For the upcoming school year, over a billion dollars of the governor's proposed $1.4 billion cut is slated for reinstatement. School aid runs detailing restorations by district are available through your state legislators, the NYSSBA website or by calling NYSSBA's Governmental Relations department.
While we recognize that the change in voting date causes a number of logistical problems, as well as increased voter confusion, we need to also recognize the extraordinary nature of what has taken place. School districts and NYSSBA have correctly claimed for the past several months that the proposed cuts created a crisis that would decimate educational programs and escalate local tax rates. While still 28 days past the April 1st deadline, the legislature nonetheless responded in a dramatic fashion. No other state has received similar legislative support. Public education is one of only two areas restored in the state budget and it received the lion's share of that restoration. While we must ensure our communities understand that state aid could not be fully restored and does not address inflationary increases, the legislative effort to restore funding within a time period that allowed school districts to make use of that funding came at the expense of traditional political alliances. While we are often critical of government's approach to the fiscal needs of public education, we should also appreciate this unprecedented legislative response.
NYSSBA has been informed by legislative leaders that the governor may not veto the education portion of the state budget. We have also been assured that should such a veto take place, the legislature is unified and determined to override that veto. Based on this information, NYSSBA is confident that funds restored by the legislature will in fact be provided to districts. As districts reevaluate their budgets, we are mindful of the consequences of choosing to ignore the restored aid, either out of concern for the procedural problems, the uncertainty of receiving the funds or the likelihood of voter confusion. There is danger in that, however. First, if districts do not add in legislative restorations, our collective cries of the dire consequences of the proposed cuts will be perceived as disingenuous. We will have removed the incentive for the legislature to continue to stand up to the governor on behalf of public education throughout this session and into the next. We will have provided the impression that we will warehouse the aid and make legislators less likely to fight for restorations in what is expected to be as difficult a fiscal situation next year.
Two years ago the state legislature considered aid provided in early September to be a crisis for public education. They now recognize that even late April is extremely problematic. The legislature's tardiness causes severe difficulties. However, they have done the right thing, some at great personal and political expense. This situation will demand that they continue to be unified and determined in their support of public education. Districts making use of the additional funds to restore programs and lower local property tax projections provides legislators with the political support needed to sustain that effort through this year and next.
We have been outspoken critics of our state government throughout this crisis. NYSSBA's staunch advocacy and your ardent support are largely responsible for the legislature's willingness to go to extraordinary lengths in its attempt to protect public education from the effects of the state's fiscal crisis. I am grateful for your tireless efforts and extremely proud of what we are doing for our state's children this year. Our recognition of what has occurred thus far and our use of the restored funds that resulted from our efforts will set the stage for what remains to be done throughout the veto process and into next year.
The following is a synopsis of the legislature's approach to major aid categories:
Operating Aid, Gifted and Talented Aid, Operating Standards Aid and Academic Services Aid have been combined into the category of Operating Aid. This category has been reduced from 2.25% to 6.3% depending on a district's relative wealth. The legislature rejected the governor's proposal to include Special Education categories into Operating Aid. In some instances the governor's cuts to Operating Aid would have exceeded 8%.
BOCES Aid, Transportation Aid and Extraordinary Needs Aid were all fully restored. The legislature rejected the governor's plan to eliminate aid for BOCES administrative services and facilities. The proposal to eliminate BOCES as a separate category in future years was rejected.
Universal Pre-K and Class Size Reduction aid payments will be the same as last year.
Proposed changes to Building Aid were rejected, except that, for projects that did not have a certified general construction contract on file at the State Education Department on February 15th of this year, building aid would be held over until the 2004 state fiscal year.
Thank you once again for your successful effort to keep public education our state's highest legislative priority.
David Little
Director of Governmental Relations
New York State School Boards Association
24 Century Hill Drive, Suite 200
Latham, New York 12110-2125
Phone: (518) 783-0200
Fax: (518) 783-0211
david.little@nyssba.org
Visit the NYSSBA website at http://www.nyssba.org
Close to 40 percent of U.S. fourth-grade children score below grade level in reading assessments, and 10 to 15 percent of children have been diagnosed with dyslexia; faculty member Tami Katzir shares some important background about dyslexia, its prediction, and appropriate interventions.
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/katzir05012003.html
Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-to-Face Learning
by Mark Kassop - ... an examination of the many ways in which online learning is superior to its traditional counterpart.