Commissioner's Report to the Regents

January 1996

by State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills

Length of School Day in New York City

      All high school students are required to have five
and a half hours of instruction at the high school level
and 5 hours at the elementary level.  In New York City,
75,000 students do not receive the amount of instruction
that they should.  I have written to Chancellor Crew to
direct that the situation be corrected and he has
responded in a very positive manner.  Here are the
details.

      Of the 75,000 students, 36,000 are in 58 schools
that are on split sessions.  Under certain conditions, I can
entertain a waiver for each of these schools.  To receive
a waiver, all students must receive four and a half hours
of instruction, and must have a full program that enables
them to graduate on time.  I would consider such a
waiver for one semester only.  The remaining 39,000
students receive less than five and a half hours of
instruction and are not in the schools on split sessions.  I
have directed that all of these students be in the
appropriate classes starting with the new semester in
February.  I am gratified to report that Chancellor Crew
and his colleagues have worked vigorously with EMSC
department staff to ensure that this problem is resolved
promptly.

A Look at the Department

      The Rockefeller Institute has completed a 60-day
look at the State Education Department through the eyes
of the people it serves and the people who work in it.  It
is a very direct statement of our problems and
opportunities and it demands firm action.  Among the
key findings are these:  there is no strategic vision guiding
the work of the entire department, no priorities, and we
are not sufficiently focused on customers.  There are no
performance measures and the parts of the agency are
not connected.  Work is micro-managed at all levels and
the necessary tools, especially computers, are not
available to do the job.  Although the interviews did not
specifically ask about the Regents, many of the 206
interviewees commented on the Regents and said that
there are too many issues that come before the Regents.

      I met with approximately 1,000 department staff last
week to outline the findings and the actions we must
take:  We will develop a strategic plan by May, and it will
include a clear vision of our mission and goals.  We will
create performance measures and be accountable for
performance.  The first of a series of quarterly
performance reviews for each major unit in the
Department will begin in March.  The first department-
wide management training session will take place at the
end of January and will focus on expectations for
management with a particular focus on strategic planning. 
Much of the report was about the need to empower staff. 
This week, I created a small team to eliminate multiple
sign-offs on correspondence which has the effect of
delaying information to citizens who write to us.

      I want to express my appreciation to Richard
Nathan and Gerald Benjamin of the Rockefeller Institute,
David Shaffer of the Business Council, the many
members of the oversight panel who guided the study,
twenty-four Department colleagues who conducted most
of the interviews, and the 206 people who gave their
thoughts and observations to us.  It is up to all of us to
follow through.

Strategic Planning for the Department

      At the February meeting, the Regents will have the
first four items to help in the development of the
strategic plan:  1) a history of the department, 2) a scan
of the threats and opportunities in the environment in
which we work, 3) an analysis of the statutory basis for
our work, and 4) the Rockefeller Institute Report. 
Together these should be sufficient to reshape our
mission and goals.

      While we are waiting of that work to be complete, I
would propose the following as a rough draft.

            Vision:  We are going to become the most
            effective state agency in New York, and the
            best education department in the nation, not
            because we say so, but because the people we
            serve will come to say so.

            We are going to be known for rapid, reliable
            responses; for heart and courage when
            someone has to stand up for students; for
            world class processes; for focus on
            performance; and for being a good place to
            work.

            Our mission is to lift the knowledge and skill
            of the whole state.  We will do that with the
            schools, the libraries and the museums,
            VESID, higher education, and the
            professions.

Cost Containment in the State Education Department

      The Regents learned that we had a $4 million
structural deficit in the current year.  More recent
information shows that this is actually a $4.9 million
deficit.  However, a series of actions have allowed us to
resolve 80% or almost $4 million of this gap and 85% of
a similar gap in next year's budget.  The primary
contributors to the reduction in our current deficit are:

      o     Employees savings suggestions such as phone
            disconnections, shipping and postage savings,
            reduced utilities cost - $396,000.

      o     Recovery of prior years federal funds as a
            result of a legal decision that enables us to
            offset administrative costs - $1.4 million.

      o     Transferred data processing charges to
            program offices that receive those services -
            $847,000.

      o     Transfer of staff to jobs supported by other
            than state funds and reductions in overtime -
            $143,000.

      o     Revenues from external printing contracts -
            $1.2 million.    

      I commend Ruth Henahan, Acting Chief Financial
Officer, all of the managers, and the nearly 400
department staff who offered specific suggestions for cost
containment.