November 1997
Report to the State Board of Regents

BY STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER RICHARD P. MILLS


Time to decide

Thousands have participated in discussions on the meaning of a high school diploma in New York. Together, we have defined the courses that students should complete to be prepared for Regents exams and graduation. Those discussions have enriched and improved the proposal now before the Regents.

During the public review, we have enhanced the proposal by adding appropriate flexibility for schools, alternative ways to meet the technology standard and an improved safety net for students with disabilities. There is also specific provision for occupational programs, and opportunities for schools that already meet high standards to challenge exams even more difficult than the Regents exams.

There will be many additional adjustments to make as educators everywhere continue to bring higher standards to life in the schools. As rich as the discussions have been, some would like for the discussions to continue prior to a decision. I disagree. The schools need to know the direction we are headed. As in every major change, many practical issues will have to be resolved, but they won't even emerge until we start working on them. Delay only keeps us from that work.

For example, some have asked for a safety net for all students who have not taken Regents exams up to this point. We must consider this in the immediate future -- and I have already discussed it in depth with many school leaders and other citizens -- but we must consider it with care. We cannot and will not harm children. At the same time, we must be urgent about higher expectations and better instruction. If we take the pressure off, many students will get no more than they get now. It is time to decide the graduation requirements.

The school facilities problem hasn't gone away

The failure of the school facilities bond act means only that we have to find another way. The Levy Commission findings are still true, and the Regents hearings have given us fresh information about the entire State at first hand. We can begin the next phase of the effort by considering the regulations and practices that influence school building maintenance. We will help schools make the most productive use possible of the new school building aid funds provided in the current budget. We can also continue to advocate for the year-round-school option that has been a part of our proposal for school facilities renewal from the beginning.

Schools under registration review

It has become easier for New York City schools to get on the SURR list and harder to come off. With each successive year, the threshold becomes more challenging. Nevertheless, there are more schools coming off the list this year (18 in comparison to last year's 10) and fewer going on the list (20 this year in contrast to 23 last year.) There are 20 schools going to corrective action this year; last year, there were 21. New York City education leaders and our colleagues who work with them deserve a lot of credit for this result.

The State Education Department field reports on the corrective action schools are notably different this year from last year. Absent are the references to broken glass in the playground, gross failure in instructional practices, and similar comments that were so disturbing in the reports from last year. There are still many references to substandard education, but even the lowest performing schools are showing the results of efforts to improve.

Teacher policy: the next frontier in school reform

The Regents Task Force on Teaching has devoted an astonishing amount of thought and time to the problem of how to put a well-prepared teacher in front of every class and keep that teacher there. Many State Education Department staff have been part of that also and I thank them for their hard work.

The proposal is sweeping. It would change teacher standards and standards for teacher preparation institutions, incentives and licensing categories, the teaching career path and the opportunities for professional growth. Change on this scale is essential to ensure that students meet their own standards adopted last year by the Regents.

Now begins yet another round of regional forums to probe the recommendations, refine where necessary, and engage still more participants in the work of improving the performance of schools and higher education institutions.

Measuring performance

Each of the six teams in the State Education Department reports performance in relation to the Strategic Plan at the end of every quarter. Now it's time for the whole Department to present results. In December we will report to the Subcommittee on Quality on the performance measures contained in our Strategic Plan. In January or February we will report to the Board and the public.

Regents Conference on the Professions

Members of the Board of Regents, legislators and legislative staff, members of the professional community, consumers, and State Education Department staff convened at the Bar Association in the City of New York in late October for the first Regents Conference on the Professions in seven years. The event provided a forum for experts from around the nation and Canada to address complex issues related to continued professional competence in a rapidly changing world. Highlights included a keynote address by consumer advocate Ralph Nader and a live demonstration of telepractice in medicine. The Conference report will be available shortly, but participants have already registered their views by giving the conference the highest marks.

Chancellor Hayden and I had an opportunity to stress the same themes later at the annual meeting of the New York State Nursing Association.

The Mastodont is back

The Cohoes Mastodont - one of the oldest known nearly complete fossil skeletons of the Ice Age elephant-like animal - will go on display in the State Museum for the first time since 1976. The skeleton was on display in the old Museum for over 100 years until the Museum moved to its new quarters in the Cultural Education Center. A recent carbon 14 procedure reveals that the Cohoes Mastodont died 11,070 years ago. A generous grant from Marine Midland Bank enabled the Mastodont's bones, tusks and teeth to be conserved and reassembled.

The opening of this permanent exhibit at the Museum is just one component of a remarkable and highly productive schedule of exhibit openings at the Museum. The Roycroft Desktop, Arts and Crafts: From the Collections of the New York State Museum, and the Cohoes Mastodont are preludes to the later winter 1998 opening of the Harlem exhibit. This is an ambitious and impressive schedule of events.

The 1998-99 budget

State Education Department senior staff and I presented our budget priorities to the Division of the Budget and staff from the Senate and Assembly this month. Still to come is the Regents State aid proposal, which will be discussed this month at the Regents meeting and voted upon in December. This proposal is exceptionally important because it will help create the capacity for the education reform over the next three years. Regent Bottar's subcommittee on state aid stresses long-term investment in three categories: current programs such as preschool and smaller class size programs adopted by the Legislature in the last session, operating aid which is the State's share in the partnership with local school districts, and specific needs such as reading and special education. Spirited and successful advocacy for this will show that we are serious about education reform. It's the best way to back local leadership.

National Disability Employment Awareness Week

Last month I reported that VESID again set an annual record for placement of people with disabilities into jobs. This month we thanked members of the huge partnership that made this possible. For the sixth consecutive year VESID, in conjunction with the Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped, Department of Labor, and Empire State Development, conducted award ceremonies to honor business throughout the State which have provided employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

You and the Governor recognized 157 businesses throughout the State. More than 1200 people attended these regional meetings, including 495 employers. With the new connections provided by the Partnership for Children, the School-Community Collaboration Task Force and our special education reform, the momentum is building for an even brighter future.

Education Finance Symposium

The State Education Department's annual Education Finance Symposium has become a very productive source of ideas and support for gradual improvements in New York's school funding system. This year, the EMSC-led event featured thought-provoking research from David Monk, John Bishop, and other scholars on the experience of districts that had moved to an all-Regents approach to instruction and assessment. High expectations, creative use of teachers' talent and time, and lots of additional support for students clearly works. The studies also noted that change on this scale takes time and the marginal costs will increase as we move from 75 percent of the students passing to something closer to 95 percent.

A view from the road

The last month resembled the late spring and early summer months because of the Regents hearings. It is a wonderful thing to see so much of New York in a short time. Here are some impressions:

It's a big State out there. And a lot of people are doing something right.


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