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Expected Increases in Expense Based Aids for 2017-18 Data from the November 15, 2016 school aid database show that if current law were to continue in 2017-18, New York State school districts would receive reimbursement of $322 million for expenses they have incurred for school construction, transportation, BOCES expenses and special education. These so-called ‘expense based aids’ provide reimbursement for expenses incurred the previous year. New York State has tended to pay these aid increases in full each year. The enacted budget expected in April 2017 will determine whether and by how much these aids will be paid, and the November 15 data is our first ...
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NYSED Reviews Poverty Measures Used for State Aid Chapter 54 of the Laws of 2016 directed the Commissioner of Education to examine Free and Reduced Price Lunch counts used in state aid formulas, as they are affected by the federal Community Eligibility Provision, as well as other reliable measures of student poverty, and issue a report by October 1, 2016. The report reviews: Using weighted direct certification data from other anti-poverty programs; Using new or derived data from the Department of Taxation and Finance; Using updated Federal Census poverty data; Requiring all students to provide income inquiry forms; Freezing and/or holding harmless ...
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New requirements enacted with the laws of 2015 require all certificate holders to register with the State Education Department. The Regents promulgated regulations in March 2016 which detail the process. This applies to any holder of a certificate that is valid for life (Permanent, Professional and Teaching Assistant Level III) and includes the establishment of continuing teacher and leader education (CTLE) requirements for Professional and Teaching Assistant Level III Certificate Holders. For more information click here.
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NYSASBO held a webinar on the 2016 State Budget yesterday. Two hundred ninety people registered for this overview of the state budget focusing on State Aid to school districts. NYSASBO continues to study the budget, and will provide information on areas not covered in this first webinar, and answer questions members have raised. In particular, NYSASBO has scheduled a webinar on changes in the budget relating to STAR, Paid Family Leave, and Minimum Wage on April 25, 2016 from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm. NYSASBO has also made some corrections to yesterday's presentation, posted here. For example, the total aid increase has been corrected to include the Final ...
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NYSASBO staff are constantly working to improve the link between research, policy, and practice in school finance. That’s why NYSASBO research staff attended the Association for Education Finance and Policy’s (AEFP) annual conference last week in Denver, CO. The theme of the conference was “The Perils of Research Irrelevance: Balancing Data Use Against Privacy Concerns.” Many of you may remember the 2012 legislative battle over a contract that had been signed with data company InBloom, followed by the company’s fall after nearly every one of its clients pulled out amid growing privacy concerns. InBloom offered 400 fields of data for each student, and parents ...
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The New York State Legislature appointed Luis Reyes, Elizabeth Smith Hakanson, and Nan Eileen Mead to the New York State Board of Regents on Tuesday, March 8. These members were chosen from over 50 candidates during a joint session that is largely controlled by Democrats. These appointments are noteworthy for the education experience and increased diversity that they will bring to the board. Luis Reyes was appointed to fill Chancellor Merryl Tisch’s at-large seat for a five-year term. Reyes is a research associate at Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies and has taught Spanish and education at CUNY schools for decades. He served as a member of the ...
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New York schools have coped with disasters. There was the devastating North Country ice storm in 1998 when trees fell down and shattered, tens of thousands of people lost power and four inches of ice covered the region for six days. In 2011, Hurricane Irene produced heavy damage over much of New York, totaling to $296 million. The storm is ranked as one of the costliest in the history of New York, after Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Much of the damage occurred due to flooding, both from heavy rainfall in inland areas and storm surge in New York City and on Long Island. Tropical storm force winds left at least three million residents without electricity in New York ...
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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 ...
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Online Conversations with Practitioners: Governor’s Proposal and Tax Cap Issues 2016 NYSASBO’s Deborah Cunningham hosted An Online Conversation with Practitioners January 27 on Tax Cap Issues for 2016. Below is a summary of that conversation. Let us know what you think and how the Governor's proposal and the Tax Cap affect your district. The panel commented on the impact of the Governor’s budget recommendations and how they expect to budget given the complete education system, state aid and local revenues. They discussed the impact of a Tax Cap that essentially allows for no increase at all and a STAR tax rebate for eligible taxpayers ...
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NYSASBO held its Budget Workshop on Wednesday, December 16. To kick off the event, Sherri Fisher of South Colonie CSD and Lisa Kyer of Lansingburgh CSD presented about the “nuts and bolts” of school district budgeting. The workshop finished with “A Tale of Three Districts,” a panel moderated by NYSASBO’s Deborah Cunningham, featuring Suzanne Slack of Syracuse City SD, Richard Cunningham of Plainview-Old Bethpage CSD, and John Montesanti of Wilson CSD. In their “Nuts and Bolts of School District Budgeting” presentation, Fisher and Kyer started by offering strategies to better understand a school district’s financial landscape. They then gave an overview of revenue ...
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Written by Deborah Cunningham The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on December 15 that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items was unchanged in November as costs for energy and food declined . Based on eleven months of the year, inflation was running on par with last year at a 0.0006 percent increase. With only one month left to determine the Tax Cap for 2015, it appears to be close to or equal to zero. (The law does not allow the allowable levy growth factor to be less than zero.) This poses a serious problem for districts in that costs will be increasing despite the low inflation, but districts will not be able to increase their tax levy for ...
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In December, NYSASBO will be opening up a survey regarding the new property tax rebate. This three-question survey will inquire as to your knowledge of the rebate, how you think it will impact your district, and whether your district is likely to seek a tax cap override or not in 2016. Our last blog post referenced a new property tax rebate, established in the 2015 Enacted State Budget. We received some feedback on the post and we will be pursuing further research so that we can provide you with as much information about this issue as possible. The property tax rebate is separate from the more well-known property tax freeze credit that provided credits to ...
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Written collaboratively by Deborah Cunningham and Kimberly Shannon The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on November 17 that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.2 percent in October. Based on the first ten months of the year, inflation was running on par with last year at a 0.02 percent increase. If the CPI remains low for the rest of 2015, the allowable levy growth allowed in the tax cap law will be less than one or even zero. (The law does not allow the allowable levy growth factor to be less than zero.) As NYSASBO has mentioned before, this poses a serious problem for districts in that costs will be increasing despite the low inflation, but districts ...
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It was a pleasure to meet many of you at the SBMW this year. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and learned a lot. Please share your thoughts with us so we know what topics to touch on for upcoming events and webinars. What was your favorite session that you attended? What was the greatest lesson that you learned? Feel free to post your input in the comments. I know that not everyone was able to stay for the last Friday session, so I wanted to share some of my notes. I attended a workshop led by Deborah Cunningham and ONC BOCES Deputy Superintendent Jenna Bolton Carls called “ROI Analytics: Informing Strategic Resource Use.” That’s a fancy way of saying, “How ...
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Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, announced this morning that she will be stepping down from the Board of Regents at the end of her term in March 2016. Regents are elected by the New York State Legislature and the Chancellor is selected by the members of the Board of Regents. Both her five year term as Chancellor and her three-year term as Regent are up in March 2016. Some speculation has been voiced about the need to rebrand the common core reform effort with a new face and look. We will listen and watch the board during the next several months to see who emerges as a contender to be the next Chancellor of the Board of Re ...
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Thanks for reading School Business Matters , formerly called Deborah’s Blog , now with a new improved name and another awesome blogger. I’m Kimberly Shannon, Deputy Director of Education and Research at NYSASBO, and I’ll be posting along with my colleague Deborah Cunningham to keep the conversation flowing about school business. We encourage you to subscribe to this blog by clicking here to receive email notifications when we post. We’ll post every week or two, so it won’t be enough to overwhelm your inbox, but it will be just enough to keep you in the loop and get your feedback. On Wednesday, Deborah and I attended the NYS Assembly’s public hearing on ...
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CPI News: With nine months of CPI data, inflation is flat, threatening the possibility of no growth in tax levy for 2016-17 The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported October 15, 2015 that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers fell 0.2 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index was essentially unchanged before seasonal adjustment. For more information see: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm. NYSASBO staff track CPI increases for their impact on the allowable growth factor for the Tax Cap and other ...
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Making Resources Matter NYSASBO Research Director, Deborah Cunningham, participated as a member of an Education Resource Strategies Steering Committee convened by the New York State Education Department. This Race-to-the-Top funded project concluded June 29, 2015. Researchers from an organization called Education Resource Strategies worked with eight school districts to examine their resources and look for opportunities to reallocate them in ways that would improve student achievement. Resources were considered broadly as people, time and money. Strategies included: Providing differentiated learning and small group instruction through integration ...
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CPI News: With five months of CPI data, deflation continues, threatening the possibility of no growth in tax levy for 2016-17 The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported June 18, 2015 that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.4 percent in May after increasing 0.1 percent in April. For more information see: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm. NYSASBO staff track CPI increases for their impact on the allowable growth factor for the Tax Cap and other business management matters. Based on the first five months of the year, inflation is less compared with last year. If the CPI remains low for ...
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School Receivership Stakeholders Meeting NYSASBO staff and three NYSASBO members from school districts with struggling schools participated with other educational association in a day-long stakeholders meeting on school receivership. Assistant Commissioner Ira Schwartz presented an overview of the legislation and then asked the group to examine and summarize the regulations. School principals, superintendents, business officials and representatives of statewide educational and advocacy associations debated recommendations on re-staffing, demonstrable improvement, conversion to community schools, qualifications and appointment of receivers, Department support ...
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