While
there is some good news in this year's state budget, the final result was far
less than legislators like myself worked towards. In the end my colleagues and I in the Assembly made
the best of a set of terrible budget options.
We were successful in pushing back on the Governor's proposal, which painted
with too broad a brush, demonized teachers and sacrificed student learning on
the altar of invalid standardized tests. From my experience, what was
missing from the Governor's proposal were the very things that make education
work.
The budget adopted
by the Senate and Assembly and signed by the Governor no longer links teacher
performance evaluations to standardized test scores and outside evaluators. That is a step in the right direction because
these have no connection to schools or the dynamics that make for good teaching
and good schools. Instead teacher evaluations - which are already a
matter of law - will be done according to a mix of factors. These include local assessments and multiple measures
of learning, albeit not the universe of those I would have preferred.
Importantly,
the budget puts the awesome responsibility for implementing these education proposals
where they constitutionally belong - with the NYS Board of Regents, not the Governor
or the legislature. I am heartened by the addition of new Regents who have real-life, on the ground experience teaching,
running schools and school systems.
The new state
budget increases education funding by $1.6 billon, provides additional funds to
persistently struggling schools and gives them time to prepare and plan for
success. Overall, 68.5% of the aid will go to high-needs districts; 25.7% to
average-need districts; and 5.8% to low-need districts, which is good news for
our schools in New York City, 70% of whose schools are high needs.
The budget
opens the doors to increased pre-K for children throughout the state - which we
know is critically important to student outcomes. It includes a $30 million
increase in pre-K funding for 3- and 4-year- olds and protects last
year's pre-K investment for New York City. It provides additional funding to
those schools that educate our most vulnerable children with severe
disabilities, and significant funding for NYCHA.
As a special
educator and disability rights advocate, I disagree with the influence high
stakes standardized testing has had on our education systems - a problem that
was greatly intensified under President George W. Bush. These tests do nothing
to improve educational outcomes for our children with disabilities. Policymakers are wise to view them with great
skepticism.
A vote against
this hard-fought budget would likely have put in effect the Executive's
terribly flawed proposal and its draconian consequences, not the least of which
would have been $1.2 billion less for public schools. In the end, I held my
breath and voted to make lemonade from the bitter lemons the Governor offered. The
fight is not over, however, as I and my colleagues committed to real reforms will
continue to fight for our children and for full funding of the Court's ruling
in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity decision.