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EVENTS |
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EPP EVENTS
DETAILS OF SOME PAST EVENTS Press Conference organized to call on the NYS Legislature and the Governor to:
Speakers list available upon request. Keynote Speakers: NYC Councilman David Weprin, Chair
of NYC Council Finance Committee
November
20, 2003
EPP'S FALL BUDGET SUMMIT What Have You Heard? The Impact of Restructuring and Budget Cuts on Public School Students. Invited Panelists School Districts
Parent
Special Education
Trade Unions
Each presented views and anecdotal information regarding the mostly negative impact of restructuring on communication between administration and schools in provision of services to students. Keynote Speakers: Presentations and discussions focused on closing the State budget gap and possibilities in reforming the education budget in Albany (equity, facilities, governance, LADDER); City education cuts in the context of the City's own budget gap; and the reauthorization of IDEA,underfunding of No Child Left Behind, and the spectre of taxpayer-funded vouchers in the debate on education choices in Washington, DC. Brief introductions of the federal bond program which permits states to write their own regulations to lease school buildings from developers in a public-private partnership. Introductions were facilitated by Frank McARdle, General Contractors Association and Kevin McCabe of the Schoolhouse Foundation. Phil K. Bomershein theExecutive Director of the Commonwealth Competition Council, an independent agency of the state of Virginia, outlined the changes in state law that took place in Virginia to encourage public-private partnerships. Charles Szuberla, Coordinator of School Operations and Management Services, New York State Education Department, outlined the challenges of drafting QPEF regulations for New York State. November
21, 2002
EPP'S FALL 2002 BUDGET SUMMIT What Have You Heard? The Impact of Education Budget Cuts Invited Panelists Community School Boards Parents Jan Atwell, Program Director of the United Parents
Association Trade Unions Ron Jones, Special Assistant to the President, UFT Each constituency shared varying views on the ways in which Districts were forced to absorb school budget cuts. April
10 , 2002 A breakfast briefing hosted by NYC Council Education Committee Chair Eva Moskowitz. At this breakfast briefing, Michael Rebell of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity provided an update on the status of the CFE lawsuit. Dr. Karl Widerquist presented EPP's report Castles In The Sand, about why student overcrowding remains a problem. Tom Rogers of the New York State Council of School Superinendents gave a report on the status of state budget negotiations surrounding state Building Aid. Dr. Philip Geiger of the Arizona School Facilities Board provided New York City public officials with a sense of the large-scale facilities reform undergone in Arizona. Arizona is functioning under a court order, whereby the state picks up 100 percent of the costs of new school construction and capital repairs.
April
9, 2002
ALBANY- REPAIRING SCHOOL FACILITIES FUNDING Keynote Speaker: Dr. Philip Geiger, Executive Director of the Arizona School Facilities Board In NYS... The dramatic increase in annual state Building Aid allocations has resulted in less money for Operating Aid. Recent change in how Building Aid is calculated and new proposals for additional changes have left school district officials, voters, and parents confused and uncertain about their ability o get their schools repaired or built. EPP's objective in holding the April 9th forum is to provide New York State budget decision makers with an overview of potential large-cale reforms in facilities funding. Our keynote speaker is the architect of Arizona's court-ordered system for bringing all schools up to a state of good repair. The forum will begin with a dialogue between represenatives from different parts of New York and will end with a discussion of policy choices in reforming our state's school facilities funding system. The agenda for the forum includes presentations from Harvey Kaufman, Rural Schools Reforms Program at Cornell University; Rick Longhurst, Education Finance Committee of the NYS Assoc. of School Business Officials; George Asciutto, Conference of Big Five School Districts; Representative of the Division of Budget*; John Clarkson, Director of Research, Office of the Comptroller; Representative of the State Education Department*. May
9, 2002
EPP'S SPRING 2002 BUDGET SUMMIT Balancing The City's Budget: Will It Help Or Hurt Public Education? Glenn Pasanen, Associate Director of CITY PROJECT presented a review of the Mayor's budget proposal and the NYC Council's Education First proposal. Ronnie Lowenstein, Director of NYC Independent Budget Office presented a review of the budget adoption process and potential sources of new city revenue. Noreen Connell, Executive Director of EPP and Martine G. Guerrier, Albany Representative of EPP provided participants with an update on state budget negotiations. Hon. David I. Weprin, Chair of the NYC Council Finance Committee discussed the options available to the NYC Council in the upcoming budget negotiations with the Mayor and the two-year problem of keeping the city's budget balanced. October
25, 2001
EPP'S FALL 2001 SPECIAL COALITION SUMMIT What are the Impacts of the Budget Cuts on NYC Public Schools? Please join EPP Members, community school board members, activists, parents, and budget decision makers as we assess the school-level implications of the state and city budget cuts. This event will shed light on the extent that direct services have been impacted by the budget. Participants will develop a school reform agenda for the next City Council and Mayor. Featured Speakers Community School Board Panel Special Education Panel Parent and Youth Leaders Each Panel presentation will be followed by a question and answer period. Location: 105 East 22nd Street / Room
4A
The impact of taxpayer-funded vouchers on Milwaukee’s public school system was discussed by three members of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, PETER BLEWETT, CHARLENE HARDIN, and JENNIFER MORALES. They were joined by New York City Board of Education Members DR. SANDRA LERNER, GREG BROOKS, Dr. IRVING HAMER, and TERRI THOMSON who recently participated in Mayor Giuliani’s trip to Milwaukee to promote the use of taxpayer-funded school vouchers in New York City. Attendee's were engaged panelists in a discussion about this "experiment" that has captured national press attention and is at the heart of an ideological debate about the future of education in America. Co-sponsored by the New York Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, Emergency Campaign Against Vouchers, Educational Priorities Panel, People for the American Way Foundation, and Citizens' Committee for Children April 2001 REGIONAL COST ADJUSTMENT FORUM In light of the increased interest in utilizing a REGIONAL COST ADJUSTMENT to New York State’s formula to aid local school districts, the Educational Priorities Panel held a forum on this topic on Tuesday, April 3, 2001. Proposals by the Regents, Governor Pataki, State Comptroller McCall, and the Midstate School Finance Consortium have brought the issue of expanding the use of a cost index into serious consideration. EPP invited State Legislators and interested individuals to hear panelists provide a rationale for their cost index methodology and describe how it would be used in the distribution of state aid to schools. Respondents were then asked to draw out the strengths and weaknesses of the various proposals, as well as what parts of the school aid formula should have a cost index. The following speakers explained their proposals: Deborah Cunningham, State Education Department, State Aid Work Group for the Regents Lawrence Cummings, Midstate School Finance Consortium Professor John Yinger, the Maxwell School at Syracuse University Dr. Bruce Brodsky, the Long Island Association and the Long Island Education Consortium March 2001 NYC MAYORAL FORUM ON EDUCATION FUNDING Co-hosted by EPP and the Teachers Network: Impact II Candidates Herman Badillo, Fernando Ferrer, Mark Green, Alan G. Hevesi, and Peter Vallone were asked: "What is your strategy for securing resources to help bring NYC students’ achievement up to state standards?" Moderated by Robert Krulwich , ABC News Correspondent Over 400 people attended the forum which took place during the Teachers Network: Impact II’s major conference on March 24. Candidates responded to questions about the impending educational crisis the next mayor will inherit. The forum was covered in Newsday, the Daily News, and El Diario. October
2000 Because the NYS Supreme Court decision in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit was expected in the fall of 2000, EPP held a briefing that detailed the full-scale proposals for reforming education finance. EPP urged New York City budget and education policy makers to attend and consider which proposal would provide the most help to NYC public school students struggling to attain higher learning and testing standards. Panelists included: Deborah H. Cunningham: Overview of the Regents’
Reform Proposals Lawrence M. Cummings: The Midstate School Finance
Consortium Plan Michael A. Rebell: Quantifying the Cost of Providing
a Sound, Basic Education February
2000 Complex state school aid formulas are often bewildering, even to the most experienced policy makers. EPP’s report, Checkerboard Schooling, identifies the specific mechanisms that perpetuate funding inadequacies. EPP’s briefing on the report clearly demonstrated to legislators how districts are harmed by transition aid, specifically high-needs districts. EPP’s February Checkerboard Schooling Albany briefing drew over 60 participants, the majority of which were legislators and their staff members. Attendees were not be bombarded with jargon or rhetoric, but will be given a quick lesson in the "logic" of the system and why it is highly dysfunctional, especially for school districts in the downstate area. The event was co-sponsored by Long Island’s REFIT, the NYCLU, & over 30 legislators. VIEW: Checkerboard Schooling: How State Aid Affects High Minority School Districts in New York State.
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