Testimony on the need to fully fund and provide more accountability with the Foundation funds owed NYC so that class sizes are (finally) reduced
Here is the testimony from Sarita Subramanian of the IBO which cites an Urban Institute study showing NY ranking second-to-last among 50 states because of how regressive its school funding is (including state and local.) Here is testimony from Michael Mulgrew of the UFT and Andy Pallotta of NYSUT.
Yesterday I spent most of the day at NY Senate hearings by the Education and Budget Committees on the Foundation aid formula for school funding, following a series of round table discussions that have been held throughout the state.
The Foundation aid formula which was established in 2007 but has never been fully implemented. NYC schools are owed either $1.1 billion or $1.4 billion from the state, according to different sources, as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision and the Contracts for Excellence law passed in 2007. Statewide, the unmet need varies from about $3.4 billion to $4.2 billion according to whom you ask. Some of the witnesses said there should be a two-year phase in, and others a three-year phase in of these amounts.
There were many experts in school finance, some who said the formula was so badly flawed it should be improved before funding it, and others who said we can't wait for this to happen. They argued that our schools need more resources now because students are suffering, and can't wait. They said that the state legislature and Governor need to fully fund the original formula and worry about tweaking the formula later.
The first witness was Lindsey Oates, the Chief Financial Officer of the NYC Department of Education who began with a long account about how wonderfully our schools are doing, from rising graduation rates, more students taking SATs, more preK, yadda yadda yadda. The thrust of her remarks would make any listener think that our schools don't really need more funding at all.
When asked what they would do with the additional $1.1 billion, she echoed Carranza: all schools' Fair student funding would be brought up to 100% and then principals could CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: Testimony on the need to fully fund and provide more accountability with the Foundation funds owed NYC so that class sizes are (finally) reduced
