On Wednesday, the Legislature held its joint budget hearing, at which 26 groups, including NYSASBO, made recommendations to the Senate and the Assembly. A number of groups had similar requests, and a number of legislators had similar questions. NYSASBO put together this chart to explain the differences between the major state aid proposals, but I’ll highlight some key pieces here for you.
Executive Director Michael Borges called for an $800 million increase in Foundation Aid for 2016-17, followed by a $1.2 billion increase in each of the next three years to fully phase in the money that was promised back in 2007. The Regents called for $1.3 billion in 2016-17 and said the state should commit to phasing in Foundation Aid fully. The Educational Conference Board (a board made up of these associations) grouped a bunch of items together and said that the state should provide $1.7 billion “to continue current programs and services.”
Even after all these recommendations, Governor Cuomo proposed a shockingly low $266 million Foundation Aid increase in 2016-17. Most groups spoke out against this on Wednesday, saying that this money is necessary for an adequate education and that with the economy recovering, it’s time to commit to a real phase-in.
NYSASBO, the ECB, and the Regents all agreed that Gap Elimination Adjustment needs to be fully done away with in 2016-17. With GEA at only $434 million, it seemed sensible that the state would finally get rid of this cut. I was surprised to see that the governor only proposed $189 million in restoration of funds lost to GEA for 2016-17. He wants to finish restoration over two years, but if you were listening to the State of the State speech, you might have missed that part.
Cuomo also presented his proposed “school aid increase” as a $2.1 billion increase over two years, which, to the public, might seem really close to NYSASBO’s and the Regents’ proposed $2.4 billion proposal. The trick is that the governor’s number is over two years, not one. When you really break it down, it’s a $991 million increase for 2016-17, and that includes money for community schools, early college high schools, and two prekindergarten-related programs.
The governor’s $4 million for early college high schools is also said to benefit CTE programming, but that number is way off from NYSASBO’s proposed $75 million increase for CTE. The Regents proposed $65 million for CTE, and the ECB proposed $500 million collectively for CTE, UPK, Struggling Schools, ELL education, and professional development.
Another topic that came up a lot was community schools. As you probably know, community schools are part of the receivership model that the state put in place for struggling and persistently struggling schools. In 2015, the state promised $75 million to support persistently struggling schools in their turnaround efforts (which, as NYSUT pointed out, was not delivered on time) but it didn’t promise any money for persistently struggling schools.
Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget included $100 million for community schools aid, $75 million of which would go to struggling and persistently struggling schools, and the rest of which would go to high-need schools that aren’t in those categories. This money is in addition to the $75 million for persistently struggling schools that was already promised. NYSASBO is happy that the governor is supporting community schools, but we want to make sure continued support is provided for schools in receivership as they go through this process. (Check out this Politico NY article for some groups’ criticisms of the community schools initiative.)
I thought it was interesting that so few groups talked about the necessary changes to the tax cap (which you can read about here), but a number of groups did mention the record-low tax cap that schools will be facing this year. NYSASBO has been a strong voice in advocating for changes to the tax cap, and I encourage you to contact your legislator or the Commissioner of Tax and Finance to encourage them to implement these changes.
Michael highlighted some other issues about the governor’s proposal that would be detrimental, including three tax credits that would siphon money away from public schools. One of them provides tax credits to people and corporations who contribute to scholarships for kids to attend private schools. Another provides reimbursement to families for tuition to private schools. The last one provides a tax credit to teachers to reimburse them for instructional supplies that they pay for. (Hmm…shouldn’t the state just put that money into state aid?)
Legislators had a number of questions for NYSED and others, but they didn’t get many answers. Many of them wanted an update on the Smart Schools Bond Act. Others wanted to know what exactly “community schools aid” is for. And most of them were of course curious about teacher evaluations.
I’d like to hear from you. What are your top issues for 2016-17 for schools? Are you focused on getting money to make up for the low tax cap? Are you really unhappy with these tax credits? Post in the comments about what issues matter most to you. I’d love to bring them up at our next government relations committee meeting.
Check out NYSASBO’s testimony here. (Really cool charts included.)