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."