January 1997

Education is the issue

Elected officials are signaling by their actions that educational quality is the top issue. Look back at the Special Session, for example. Speaker Silver, Majority Leader Bruno, Governor Pataki, and New York City Mayor Guiliani found common ground and reformed school governance in New York City. It's a change of historic significance, and one that enables improved performance for the children in New York City schools. And now Governor Pataki's budget makes high standards the centerpiece of the new legislative session. It's telling that initial responses to his educational message were not critical of the ideas but of the funding level. And the funding proposal was up significantly. Elected officials know that the voters demand higher school performance. And those same officials are turning to solutions that reflect confidence in school leaders at the local level. We should be discovered up to the task.

There is a great deal in the Governor's proposal that I like. He calls for $302 million more in state aid, which is just a shade under the Regent's proposal of $306 million. His special education reform package stresses reallocation of funds to support prevention of unwarranted special education placements. He calls for $36 million more to support early reading, which is a solid response to the statewide challenge to enable every child to read. He plans to rapidly increase investments in textbooks and computers, to eliminate the Wicks law which adds so unnecessarily to the cost of school construction, and to give local boards the option of flexibility on the school calendar. The Regents have supported all of this, and in his comments to the press, Governor Pataki was most generous in recognizing their contribution.

There are, of course, questions to raise. For example, his proposal to increase state aid includes a $30 million reduction in special education funding to pay for the prevention services. The Regents proposal would accomplish the same end by reallocating $40 million from the expected increase in the special education formula. And there are a host of questions to be asked about the long term plan to couple tax relief and steady increases in educational equity. But it is good to see the emergence of a long term plan in this area.

The politics of education seems to have changed dramatically, and all of us have opportunities to do our part to keep the change moving in the right direction. We must keep the matter of high standards at the forefront. Here are some specifics:

• Keep our eyes on results. I am very proud of the conduct of school boards, superintendents, and so many other educators in the way they used the School Report Cards. It was very difficult in some communities, but all across New York I saw local leaders taking the results public, facing the questions head on, and telling people what they were doing to improve performance. Let me add that I am also very proud of my colleagues in the State Education Department who worked relentlessly to fix problems in the data where they appeared. It's a good Report Card, and the next one will be even better.
  
• Lay the groundwork for prevention. It now seems possible that money to help prevent unnecessary referrals to special education could emerge in the session. We must be ready to use that support in powerful, effective ways. The board of the School Boards Association and the Regents agreed to launch a "prevention conference" this year so that all can learn what works.
  
• Teach all children to read. After many days of Report Card coverage in the press, no one will forget how far we must go to improve reading. It must include relentless encouragement from the top, a good balance of phonics and lots of reading, plenty of books, a practical role for parents, high quality professional development, and a safety net such as Reading Recovery to help children fast when they need it.
  
• Help answer the practical questions. This spring, the Regents must decide the rest of the requirements for graduation. And there are so many other issues: how exactly will we enable students in special education to reach the higher standards? What about students recently arrived in this country who do not speak English? These and other tough questions will give way to joint effort.

Regents responsibility for higher education and the professions

The Executive budget proposes to transfer the Office of Professions to the Secretary of State and to transfer higher education programs to the Higher Education Services Corporation. These are moves in the wrong direction.

Through the Office of Professions, the Regents provide the lay oversight of the professions that is demanded by groups such as the Citizens Advisory Council and the Pew Commission. Our operations have improved performance dramatically in the last year. As the Regents heard in December, license renewal time has dropped from an average of three weeks down to one day. By the end of this month, the public will be able to get up-to-date information on discipline actions affecting more than 600,000 professionals. In the last year, Professions has taken tough action in concert with the Attorney General to end illegal practice. We protect the public interest and also the interest of the professions in protecting the integrity of professional service.

Through the Office of Higher Education, the Regents protect the taxpayers' huge investment in higher education. The Regents measure program quality, prevent fraud and abuse, and help institutions avoid costly redundancies in programming. The State Education Department has closed 170 non-degree granting proprietary schools in the past six years, saving over $100 million in state and federal funds. In the last decade, doctoral reviews have resulted in 120 program closures. The opportunity grants we administer have better graduation rates than the national average.

A dilemma

What do we do for students with disabilities who cannot meet all the new Regents standards for a diploma but who have far greater capacity to achieve than those students who have typically received IEP diplomas? That is how Deputy Commissioner Larry Gloeckler stated a dilemma that we cannot avoid. We devoted our most recent teleconference to seeking a resolution to this dilemma. Participants included parents, educators from New York City and elsewhere around the state, and many State Education Department colleagues. We haven't resolved the issue yet, but we heard about and saw short videos about many local programs that have enabled many students with disabilities to pass Regents exams. These local examples are so promising that the argument that disabled students can't pass Regents exams given time and support is simply not credible. But we must think this through. Expect to hear a lot more about this.

Rethinking BOCES

In September I convened a Task Force to study BOCES and make recommendations in three areas: governance and organization of BOCES; cost and quality of BOCES services: and the role of BOCES and District Superintendents in supporting State school reform. Professor David H. Monk of Cornell University chaired the Task Force.

The Task Force made 17 recommendations. I agree with most recommendations and will take immediate action to implement those that do not require new statutory authority and will prepare new statutory authority for other recommendations. I do not support three of the recommendations, and I have suggestions to modify other recommendations as you will see in the material that follows.

New York must improve school performance as rapidly as possible and must do so at a time when needs exceed resources. A BOCES system that is tightly focused on high quality and cost effectiveness will be of enormous value to the schools and school districts as they go through this transformation, and in so doing, will serve the public well.

In my talks with the Task Force and my reading of their report, I have given particular attention to the dual role of District Superintendents. They are chief executive officers of the BOCES and responsible to their boards. They also represent the Commissioner and are responsible to me for results in that regard. I meet monthly with the District Superintendents as a group and more frequently with individuals in dealing with various school districts. Last year, I defined my expectations for these officers. This year I will evaluate their performance one by one. I expect each District Superintendent to provide forceful leadership as my representative. In that capacity, I expect them to implement the student standards, lead local school improvement, engage the community to support improvement and detect, report and resolve problems. Under each of these headings, they know the results that I am looking for. This report, and the actions that will follow immediately from it, will help all us in the hard work to improve student performance.

Common ground

The education associations and the New York Business Council have met with Chancellor Hayden and me since October to seek agreement on a common set of strategies to meet the standards and a short list of sources of funds. We have achieved our purpose. Here is what we agreed:

We commit to achieving high standards for all students and will measure results through state assessments.

To meet that goal, we have set five priorities for school spending:

• Early Intervention - expanding pre-kindergarten opportunities to give students a good start in school.
• Staff Development - providing school staff with training to help all students meet higher standards.
• Extra Help for Students - providing extra help through smaller classes, teacher assistants and aides, academic learning and support centers, and programs after school and during vacations.
• Help for Failing Schools - providing resources to restructure and redesign failing schools and schools at-risk of being identified as failing schools.
• Capital Needs - dedicating resources to make immediate facility improvements, including instructional technology.

We will focus resources on high standards by:

• Acting to control future costs in areas such as energy use and special education, and dedicating these funds to priority programs.
• Redirecting existing funds to programs which improve school results, such as pre-kindergarten programs, staff development, extra help for students, and restructuring or redesigning failing or poorly performing schools.
• Acquiring new funds (State Aid) in targeted areas, such as early reading programs, staff development, new instructional materials, school building improvement, and early intervention for students with special needs.
• Requiring maintenance of tax effort in the Big-Five Cities.