Budget Breakdown

Unchanged:
Supplemental Public Excess Cost Aid
Teachers of Tomorrow Initiative
School Health Services
Employment Preparation Education Aid
Bilingual Education
Foundation Aid
Special Services Aid
Employment Preparation Education
Urban-Suburban Transfer
Bilingual Education Grants
Education of OMH/OPWDD Pupils
Learning Technology Grants
Bus Driver Safety
Roosevelt School District
Basic Education for Public Assistance Recipients
Children of Migrant Workers
NYS Center for School Safety
Health Education Program
Primary Mental Health Project
Student Mentoring-Tutoring Program
Academic Intervention for Nonpublic Schools
Summer School Program for Disabled Students
Summer Food Program
Math and Science High Schools
Small Government Assistance to School districts
EXCEL-related Debt Service – $181.76 million ($127.02 for New York City)

Increased:
Private Excess Cost Aid – $38.89 million
Aid for BOCES – $20.73 million
Expense-based Transportation Aid – 60.87 million
Full-day Kindergarten Conversion Aid – $13.83 million
Library Materials – $0.47 million
Computer Software Aid – $0.96 million
Building Aid – $69.22 million
Competitive Grants – $50.0 million
Textbook Aid – $2.29 million
Instructional Computer Hardware and Technology Equipment $0.84 million
Education of Homeless Children – $3.0 million
Aid for Incarcerated Youth – $.50 million
Education of Native Americans – $7.69 million
Adult Literacy Education – $300,000
Lunch/Breakfast Programs – 700,000

Decreased:
Charter School Transitional Aid – $1.14 million
Reorganization Incentive Operating Aid – $0.29 million
High Tax Aid – $50.03 million
Consortium for Worker Education – $1.50 million
Private Schools for the Blind and Deaf – $2.20 million

Added:
Universal Prekindergarten Aid $385.03 million
Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention – $24.34 million (Competitive Grant)
Preschool Special Education – $46.80 million
Center for Autism and Related Services – $740,000
Targeted Special Education Teacher Salary Supplement – $4.0 million
Fiscal Stabilization Fund – $203.47 (One time relief for 2013-14 school year)

Funded Outside of School Aid:
Full-day Pre-kindergarten Program – $25 million
School-wide Extended Learning – $20.0 million
Community School – $15.0 million
Improved Science and Math Education – $11.0 million
Early College High School Programs – $4.0 million

With Building and Transportation aid receiving the largest amount of our educational dollars and the Governor’s budget allotting $3,7l6.21 per student for Universal Pre-K, nearly one-third the national average for per pupil spending according to 08-09 statistics, it is not difficult to determine the central focus of Governor Cuomo and his New Education Commission, the business of education.

We must stand, as a nation, and raise our voice against “BB” and its attempt to control our children and our nation.

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The Whole Truth

Soon, Governor Cuomo’s Education Commission will release the findings from the hearings that have been held throughout New York State.

The mission of the Commission:

To examine the current structure of the state’s education system through the lens of what is in the best interest of students;

To comprehensively review and assess New York State’s education system, including its structure, operation and processes

To uncover(ing) successful models and strategies and develop(ing) long-term efficiencies that will create significant savings while improving student achievement and providing students a high-quality education;

To explore best practices and models from other states and nations that could be implemented in New York

The Commission will:

Explore best practices and models from other states and nations that could be implemented in New York;

Study ways to strengthen teacher recruitment and performance; improve student achievement; increase parent and family engagement; use technology in the classroom; help high-need and low-wealth school communities; and manage educational funding and costs

While this Commission could have been the first step in true education reform, it showed itself to be yet another smoke screen of “BB” to cajole the public into thinking that they have our children’s best interest at heart.

The truth:

The experts called to testify were hand picked by members of the Commission or their staff

Though the public is led to believe that they have access to all submitted written and oral testimonies, via the Commission’s web site, only those written and oral testimonies chosen by the Commission’s staff are made available for viewing and listening.

Videos of the hearings are incomplete and/or missing

Hand picking your witnesses to testify on your behalf to justify your program’s relevance to education is not a comprehensive examination of the system of education, it is a blatant attempt to build the coffers of “BB” by using our children to promote their products.

The Education Commission is without integrity. If the body has no integrity, the head has no integrity.

Governor Cuomo and his Education Commission are “putting our students first” in their slave labor market.

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What’s Next

The next public hearing by the Governor’s Education Commission is Thursday, July 26 from 10am – 1pm at CUNY Hostos Community College, C-Cafeteria 450 Grand Concourse, C-Building, 3rd Floor, Bronx, NY 10451.

The rules are the same:
In order to sign up to testify, please send your full written testimony to NYEducationRefstormCommission@exec.ny.gov no later than 2 days before the hearing so that members of the Commission can review. Speakers are asked to summarize their testimony.

There is a great deal to be said for repetition. Doing things over and over again makes them automatic, without thought, you just do it. Experts have said that repetition is not a good way to learn. Our children are not given the opportunity to make learning automatic because throughout their education, repetition has been replaced by introduction, revisiting, and review.

Experience is the greatest teacher. Actually engaging oneself in a situation makes the scenario relevant and interesting, creating a lasting, long term memory of the event. Our children do not have the opportunity to enjoy positive experiences outside of the classroom for a myriad of reasons, too many students, not enough parental involvement, not enough money. Instead, our children can gain their personal experience through a SMARTBoard or iPad.

What is learning for the 21st Century? What should it look like? If we are not there to offer meaningful, experienced, expert, insight into what learning is and how it should be executed, then our children will be left to those who would treat them all the same by teaching them all the same way, making them think and respond in all the same way.

There was and is a great deal to be learned from the first hearing. A great deal more could and should be learned at the second. Change can only be accomplished if people are willing to move in a different direction.

In six days, six hours away, the Education Commission will listen to another group of people offer their views about how to fix education. Will we be there to support our position, our children?

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We’ll Get ‘Em Next Time

One of the members of the Governor’s Education Commission is Senator John J. Flanagan. We should learn about him and all of the people, we may not have chosen, but are clearly in effect, and understand that it is easier for everyone to work with people than against them.

The people who attended yesterday’s hearing were basically there to plead for funding. There were a few who asked for understanding and a few asked for patience, a few warned, but mostly they wanted funding. This was an excellent opportunity to present a strong, intelligent plea for what it is we are fighting for and, there was no voice. No objection to what was said, no denial of reliance on standardized testing to determine outcomes, no institutionalized racism tied to funding and few issues of poverty.

Accountability!

A panel of people concerned enough about the system of education in our State, that they put in the hours it takes to listen, heard.

It was interesting to hear the speakers from the Buffalo School District. They are going down some of the same paths Rochester has tread. At one point Carrie Remis pointed this out and asked if they had done any research on the results in Rochester.

Buffalo parents expressed concern that district members of the Big Five were not able to vote on district budgets which lessons their power in terms of decision making.

Several smaller Monroe County districts reported cutbacks in their budgets were having devastating effects on their ability to deliver a comprehensive curriculum. The Science and Technology department attested to their relevance in education down to Second Grade.

Mayoral control advocates spoke about unions and the inability to negotiate a contract because of the Taylor Law and the Triborough Amendment.

And, a woman spoke about an idea she had for a book called, “Buffalo Writes” (spelling assumed) in which she gathered letters from people and bound them.

Small class size spoke out. Stop crowding our babies into classrooms and then drugging them for control. Smaller children deserve smaller class sizes!

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It’s Not What It Is, It’s What It Looks Like

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 1:00 PM in Buffalo the New York State Education Commission will convene to listen to the state’s community regarding their concerns about education. Whether or not they listen to those concerns is irrelevant to the point of them being there in the room to check on the progress of the movement.

It is irrelevant that they have gathered together to show us that they are in charge and that we, the community, has little input into their decision making.

It is irrelevant that they were put in place to push the governor’s education agenda.

The only thing that is relevant is that they have supplied a venue for this community to show its strength. They want to know with what they are dealing. Has the movement grown? Have the masses come together?

This is a political fact finding mission, to be sure. They pay attention to the online chatter. They read the blogs. Now it’s time to see how strong the movement is right now.

Are they gathering the numbers? Do they have the numbers? Are their numbers dwindling? This is the objective of the meeting.

How many coalitions are there? Is each organization in the coalition strong? Are the coalitions working together? Is there anything to worry about? Are we still in command?

This is the data they gather. Not what would be best for children, but how many people are willing to fight for what is best for children. How many people will stand for or against us? What will they allow us to do and what will they stop us from doing?

To attend this venue “en masse” and say nothing would be powerful. To attend and have each group represented by a single speaker is more powerful. To rally inside and outside of the venue, overflowing the auditorium, filling the halls, crowding the streets, chanting, holding signs, united in one common goal, would change the direction of their outcomes assessment.

This is not about what we have to say but what we have to show.

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Hate The Game, Respect The Players

In a high stakes poker game the players take the time to review footage of their opponents in order to learn their strategies and especially their “tells”. Though people don’t like to think of the struggle to affect educational change as a game, life is a game and if you want to win, you have to educate yourself.

Recently, Governor Cuomo added Carrie Remis, the Executive Director of the Parent Power Project, to his education commission. Those who have been in the struggle for some time know that Ms. Remis has been actively involved in the movement towards educational change for many years.

It is also understood, that Ms. Remis supported then Mayor Duffy, now Lieutenant Governor Duffy, in his bid for mayoral control. What some may not know is that Ms. Remis carries the voice of the Faith Community Alliance to Albany with her along with several parent groups in Rochester and Buffalo.

With Ms. Remis in Albany, New Yorkers can look forward to a renewed push for Parent Trigger legislation, reconfigured for New York State by the Parent Power Project group. Parent Trigger gives parents the same rights a school district has for addressing the problems of a failing school.

It is also important to remember the upcoming Assemblyman race that has three candidates, incumbent Gantt, Cruz, and Lightfoot all vying for the position, all in favor of mayoral control of the district.

There is an alignment of power taking place within the state, especially now that the federal government is willing to relax its grip on education dollars. Those who oppose mayoral control and the privatization of public schools, must recognize the players that are being assembled and learn their “tells” so that an effective strategy can be created and utilized to win the game.

Those who are concerned with getting education dollars to the neglected population of our urban districts, must respond in kind by forming the necessary alliances and working together to fight for our children’s educational success. The opposition is formidable and must not be underestimated.

Join the Movement to Save Our Children!