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COSTS
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| Regents Recommends a five-year
phase-in of changes. By the fifth year, the increases in state
Operating Aid would total $3.05 billion. |
Midstate Recommends a three-year
phase-in of changes. By the third year, the increases in state
Operating Aid would total $3.3 billion. |
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SIMPLIFICATION
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| Regents Simplifies current Operating
Aid by eliminating several formulas. Provides a choice to school
districts of receiving a flat grant or a "foundation level"
of $4,300 (up from the current $3,900) in state Operating Aid
and this formula, which could increase or decrease the "foundation
level:"
[$4,300 X regional cost] X wealth adjustment
X [student count X student needs adjustment]
Students are counted on the basis of attendance.
Phases out "transition caps" over
five years, and would provide relief from the caps in the first
year for high-needs school districts.
Phases out "save harmless" funding
over five years. School districts receive the same amount as
the previous year under "save harmless," even though
their student enrollment may have decreased or their districts’
wealth may have increased.
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Midstate Much easier to understand and compute
than the Regents proposal. Starts out with the premise of a
"sound basic education" "foundation level"
of $8,000 for each student and this formula:
$8,000 X student count X regional cost X
student needs adjustment
MINUS federal aid for basic operations and
a wealth-adjusted minimal local contribution
Students are counted on the basis of an
average of enrollment and attendance figures.
Eliminates "transition caps,"
which puts a limit on aid increases to school districts.
Keeps "save harmless" funding
for three years, with an option to extend this funding policy.
Only twelve other states have similar policies, which tend to
drive education costs up and to promote inefficiencies in school
district operations.
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REGIONAL COST INDEX
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| Regents Does an accurate accounting
of differences in regional costs by using data provided by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics on wages and earnings for 78 non-education
occupational titles within 10 regions of New York State. The range
in the regional cost index goes from a low of 1.000 for the most
rural part of the state (North Country) to a high of 1.539 for
the New York City/Long Island region. This reform proposal recognizes
that adjacent school districts must compete among themselves for
personnel. Various analyses of regional costs have found that
differences in housing costs among regions are a major predictor
of differences in wage rates. By excluding school related-occupations,
this "regional cost factor" also tends to avoid distortions
brought about by collective bargaining policies of individual
school districts. |
Midstate Uses an index of school
district costs developed for the National Center for Education
Statistics by Jay G. Chambers based on an analysis of the salaries
of certified educational personnel and nonprofessional personnel
(based on experience and academic preparation) and some costs
of materials. Since the "cost index" is pegged to individual
school districts, this proposal ignores the reality that school
districts hire within the same regional labor pool. Also, the
way this "cost index" is created means that some of
the differences are the result of current inequities in school
district funding. More affluent school districts can pay higher
salaries and low-wealth districts cannot. The adoption of the
Chambers index, which ranges from a low of .778 for one rural
upstate school district to a high of 1.127 for a school district
in Nassau County, would be highly disadvantageous for New York
City, which would have a "cost index" of only 1.040.
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MEASUREMENT OF STUDENT
NEEDS
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| Regents Computed on the basis
of an added weight of .33 for every high-poverty, English Language
Learner, or rural student in the school district. |
Midstate Uses a very different
formula by setting aside 15% of total state Operating Aid for
at risk students and then allocating it to districts on the basis
of their proportionate share of high-risk students and district
wealth, which would be disadvantageous to downstate and some city
districts. |
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ADJUSTMENT FOR LOCAL
DISTRICT WEALTH
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Regents District wealth is computed on the
basis of both income and property wealth as compared to state
averages. Both the school district’s wealth and the state’s
wealth is divided by a total student count (both public and
private students) to come up with per capita amounts.
New York City’s wealth, which is now
calculated on a county basis (called "borough aid"),
would be computed for the city as a whole. In this new way of
measuring the city’s wealth, Manhattan’s higher incomes
and property wealth would increase the city’s wealth average.
The regional cost factor would counterbalance the city’s
"increase" in wealth due to this new way of calculating
wealth.
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Midstate Simplifies the computation of school
district wealth (and formulas) by assuming that any locality
should be able to fund their schools on the basis of $13 per
$1,000 of the full value of real property.
By eliminating a measurement of personal
income within a locality, the risk for New York City is that
in an economic downturn, the drop in available income tax revenues
would not be reflected. New York City also has 50% of the state’s
private school students, so the elimination of this student
count calculation could also be disadvantageous.
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LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
FISCAL EFFORT & TAXPAYER FAIRNESS
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| Regents Would strengthen current
law (the Stavisky-Goodman Maintenance of Effort Act, for the New
York City school district) to the other four large cities (Buffalo,
Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers). This would require the cities
to maintain their expenditures for schools on the basis of an
average proportion of municipal funding for education in the three
previous municipal budgets. Would improve current law by eliminating
state and federal education funding in the calculation of "average
proportion." |
Midstate The formula itself
would automatically require a minimal fiscal effort by all school
districts of $13 per $1,000 of the full value of real property
if they wanted to receive state Operating Aid. In affluent school
districts with high property values, tax rates could be lower
or they could provide even more local resources for education.
By requiring this minimal level of local school district fiscal
effort, the Midstate Finance Consortium goes beyond looking at
just these five cities and attempts to create a fair system for
taxpayers in all parts of the state. |
