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2000 SNAPSHOT OF THE NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The New York State Education Department is now in the
process of implementing the nation’s toughest testing standards
for high school graduation and is already testing fourth graders on
essay composition and eighth graders on algebra problem solving. The
Mayor’s response to the need to raise student academic performance
levels has been to increase the Board of Education’s budget by
0.0013% and to propose diverting money from the public schools to pay
for vouchers to private and religious schools. This Mayoral initiative
is not promising. Last year, in 12 of the 32 community school districts,
the average fourth grade English language arts test scores of students
in parochial schools fell below the average test scores of public school
students.
THE CHALLENGES THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED
Achievement Lag
An estimated 322,000 students out of a total enrollment of 1,057,774
are testing in the bottom quartile of city and state exams. On average,
there is a 20 point "gap" between passing rates of New York
City students and their peers in the rest of the state. On some high
school science tests, the "gap" grows to 40 points. In some
schools and some community school districts, there is no achievement
"gap" between city students and those in the rest of the state.
High Needs
An estimated 157,211 students are recent immigrants who are learning
English along with their course work. Over half of all students in the
city’s public school system, 572,419, are so poor that they are
eligible for free lunch under the federal school lunch program. All
research shows a strong correlation between student achievement and
such factors as concentrations of poverty and limited English proficiency.
On the other hand, research also shows that effective instruction can
bring low-income children up to high performance standards.
Limited Resources
Despite the importance of small class sizes from kindergarten to
third grade for raising student achievement, reducing referrals to special
education, and grade retention, the average class size in New York City
elementary schools is 28 students, while the average for the rest of
the state is 22 students. 10% of teachers are currently uncertified
because of the city’s brain drain of teachers who seek suburban
schools with higher salaries and better working conditions. Over 60%
of schools are functioning at overcapacity. In states such as Kentucky
and Texas where the courts required fairer systems of education funding,
class sizes were reduced, teachers received higher salaries and more
training, and school buildings were repaired. The result has been much
higher student achievement in low-wealth and high-needs school districts.
INVESTMENTS THAT WOULD HELP ALL NYC
CHILDREN SUCCEED
Reduce class sizes in the
early grades.
Now that there are federal and state funds to hire teachers, the city
must invest its capital dollars to create the additional classroom space
needed to ensure that all children in grades kindergarten to third grade
are in classes of no more than 20 students. $500 million should be set
aside so that all elementary schools have sufficient classroom space
to end overcrowding and to lower class sizes through leasing and pay-as-you-go
construction. Plans should include the construction of over 30 lower-cost
Early Childhood Centers (for pre-K to 4th grades) where additions to
existing schools will not end overcrowding.
Instructional objectives
should drive the capital program.
The priorities of the capital budget for the schools should be restructured
to enable students to meet the higher learning and testing standards.
$300 million should be directed to building and upgrading science labs
for all middle and high schools.
Invest in staff development, in
closing the teacher salary "gap" with suburban schools, and
in adequate book and school supplies.
A majority of high school students may be unable to secure a high
school diploma in 2005, when all students will have to pass five rigorous
Regents tests in order to graduate. The city needs to provide additional
funding for intensive staff development so that teachers master the
new, higher learning standards ($8 million). Loan forgiveness programs
as well as signing bonuses should be considered in recruiting math and
science majors to become teachers ($16 million). The city should immediately
increase its funding level for book purchases and schools supplies,
especially for science labs, and require all per-pupil allocations to
be directed to the school level ($15 million).
SHORT EDUCATION BUDGET HISTORY
1984
Year when the city’s per-pupil funding fell below the state’s
average. In most years, 25% of the city’s municipal expenditures
go to public schools. In the rest of the state, on average, 40% of all
government expenditures within a county go to public schools. Localities
in the rest of the state, however, do not support college or hospital
systems and most have volunteer fire fighters.
1980s
The City Council was instrumental in reducing class sizes to no
more than 25 students from first to third grade, providing more funding
to high schools, helping to provide more staff to schools, and ensuring
that teachers and principals received school supplies. By 1995, the
only initiatives that remained funded were limits on class size and
supplies.
1990s
The City Council’s major contribution to the public schools
was a $1.4 billion increase in the capital budget for the schools, which
also included a special $12.5 million annual appropriation for textbooks,
which has now become part of the Board of Education’s base budget.
1997
The NYS Assembly succeeds in getting $440 million over three years
to reduce early grade class sizes. Funding began in 1999-00 school year,
mostly for public schools in large cities.
1999
The Campaign for Fiscal Equity went into court to challenge the
state’s system of funding public schools because it denies students
in New York City the opportunity for a "sound basic education."
Should C.F.E. win this lawsuit, there could be a dramatic improvement
in city schools. It is up to the state legislature, however, to restructure
the state’s school funding system.
2000
In a year of record budget surpluses for the city, the Mayor and
the City Council take $85 million out of the Board of Education budget,
supposedly to "reduce bureaucracy." This is a highly questionable
rationale, since the savings or $85 million could have been redirected
to classroom instruction.
State Education Department issues a "Condition
Report" prepared by David H. Monk and Samid Hussain of Pennsylvania
State University comparing test participation and passing rates of high
school students among different school districts in New York State.
The report finds, "There are large inequalities in both participation
as well as performance results for schools in the large cities of the
state compared to others."
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