Call for Investing Funds in Classrooms, Not Competitive Grants

LETTER:

Campaign for Fiscal Equity Calls for State to Comply with CFE Commitment

For Immediate Release: February 7, 2012
Contact: Charlie Albanetti, 518.465.4600 x121

New Report Details Years of Pre-K Cuts, Despite Available Funding & Big Economic Benefits Makes the Case for Funding for Pre-K and Other Early Childhood Education Programs

Albany, NY – On Tuesday a coalition of early childhood education providers, parents, policy and
advocacy groups released a new report that details drastic reductions to the Universal PreKindergarten grant since 2007, despite proof that investment in early childhood education programs
have significant economic and social benefits, and that funds are available to make this investment.

The report, Early Childhood Education: Frozen Funding Leads to Cracks in the Foundation, calls on
the legislature to reprogram $53 million from the competitive grants proposed in the Executive Budget
to Universal Pre-Kindergarten, allowing for up to 14,000 more children to have access to the program.
The report also calls on the Legislature to adopt the $93 million included in the Executive Budget for
child care funding, to ensure that children of low-income working parents are able to receive
subsidies.

Kate Breslin, President and CEO, Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, said “Investing in
quality early childhood education, including Pre-K, is one of the most cost effective investments a
state can make to improve school success and close the achievement gap. Why? Reading by third
grade is a predictor of future academic success. Students who attend Pre-K are more likely to have
better reading skills by third grade than students who attend just kindergarten. And the positive impact
of Pre-K is greatest for Hispanic children, black children, English language learners and children from
low-income families. If New Yorkers care about school success, the early years are the best
investment we can make.”

Quality Pre-Kindergarten programs are proven to lead to success for our children. The report found
that within ten years of investment in these programs, New York State would realize cost savings of
40-60% in the areas of special education, grade repetition, and higher learning productivity. Going to
college and higher paying jobs, lower teen pregnancy, lower welfare dependence, and reductions in
crime were all found to be more likely for children who have access to quality Pre-K programs.

“If we held a competition to determine the most effective education reform, Pre-Kindergarten would
win by a mile,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “Over
a quarter-century of research proves that quality Pre-K raises graduation rates, increases future
earnings, and reduces incarceration rates. We must expand access to Pre-K in this budget. The
money is there to do it. There are no excuses.”

“Increased investments in early education ensure that more of New York State’s youngest children will
enter school ready for learning and ready for life, meeting New York State’s goal of making this a right
for every child,” said Nancy Kolben, Executive Director of the Center for Children’s Initiatives.
Despite consistent reductions in state funding, local school districts have shown their commitment to
children’s success by raising additional revenue to provide more access to Pre-K. But, after the 2%
property tax cap was enacted last year, poor and below-average wealth school districts are facing an
even greater challenge now to raise the funds necessary to serve more students.

“I’m very worried about my 3-year-old granddaughter’s future,” said Amparo Sadler, a grandmother
from Central Islip. “Because my district is cutting back a lot of funding, there’s a chance that Pre-K is
on the table to be cut. We need to do all we can to ensure our kids have every opportunity for
success.”

“With so much evidence showing the economic and societal benefits of providing quality Pre-K, how
can we continue to deprive so many kids of their chance at success?” said Karen Scharff, Executive
Director of Citizen Action of New York. “Our leaders in Albany need to act right now to reverse
course, expanding access to quality early learning programs by investing in Universal Pre-K.”
In 2007-08, up to 116,745 children were able to be served through the Universal Pre-Kindergarten
grant, through a maximum of $437.9 million. In 2011-12, that maximum funding had been reduced to
$384.2 million, allowing for a maximum of only 104,800 children to be served.

###

Alliance for Quality Education Report No One Wins, When Our Children Lose

Shows that Executive Budget Proposal Inadequate for Quality Education Needs

Analysis Shows that Only 52% of Proposed $805 Million in Additional School Aid is Directed to High Needs Schools

Data Set Shows how Each School District would Benefit if $250 Million in Competitive Grants were used for Classroom Restorations and Pre-Kindergarten

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 1, 2012

For Info:  Nikki Jones, AQE Communications Director, (cell) 315-416-9393

Alliance for Quality Education released a report today entitled “No One Wins When Our Children Lose.” The report, an analysis of the Executive Budget proposal, shows that out of the $805 million in new school aid proposed only 52% will go to high need schools and 14% to average needs schools; 31% of the aid would go to competitive grants.  A full data set shows how much each school district in the state would benefit if the competitive grants were instead budgeted for classroom restorations.  The report details many of the classroom cuts that schools have instituted as a result of budget cuts and finds that in order to stop more cuts the $250 million in competitive grants needs to be reallocated and that the Legislature will need to add more school aid in addition to the $805 million.  The report calls for redirecting $53 million of the competitive grant funds to pre-kindergarten programs as recommended by the New York State Board of Regents. Quality pre-kindergarten improves success in grades K -12, raises graduation rates, increases students’ income as adults and reduces incarceration rates.

The Executive Budget would only restore 1 in 5 dollars of cuts made to the classroom over the past two years, and even if the competitive grants funds were instead used to restore classroom cuts only 1 in 4 dollars of classroom cuts would be restored.

“After two years of devastating school cuts, an increase in school aid is a welcome change. But the $805 million proposed is only one in four of the dollars that have been cut from the classrooms—it may not be enough to prevent more cuts.  If students have to compete with each other for access to some of these funds, then the picture gets even worse.  Make no mistake about it, the state budget cuts these past two years have jettisoned teachers, librarians and guidance counselors, arts, music and sports, college prep and career courses.  Our students need the legislature to significantly increase the total education funding and put the competitive grants funding directly into the classrooms,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education.

“Making me compete with my friends in different schools for funding for our education isn’t fair and it isn’t right. How is my high needs school supposed to compete with the other districts with more money? The competitive grants will hurt my school and similar ones. The $250 million could be better spent by supporting schools that need it.  If my school needs new textbooks, computers and teachers, why should we have to prove that by competing?” said Maya Williams a senior at Schenectady High School.

“District 6 in northern Manhattan was one of the hardest hit districts in New York City– we lost nearly $14 million which in my school meant a loss of teachers and school aides. My son loves art but because of budget cuts he lost his art teacher which means that I now have to volunteer as an art teacher at the school,” said Miriam Aristy-Farer, parent at PS 153 in Manhattan, she added “I’m doing my part to make sure students have more opportunities but we need our legislators to do their part by demanding increased restorations so that our students can be college-ready.”

“Low-wealth rural schools have suffered enormous reductions in programs and staff in the past three years.  They are now being asked by Governor Cuomo to compete amongst one another for aid in an unproven Dickensian competition just to provide the sound, basic education promised under the state constitution.  This could quickly become a kind of cynical game that further punishes those who happen to be born in the wrong zip code.  Our students need the Governor and the Legislature to lead in the effort to establish an equitable, sustainable and predictable state aid formula and not resort to gimmicks,” said Michael Glover, Ph. D.   District Superintendent Genesee Valley Educational Partnership.

Recommendations to Legislature

• Redirect the $250 million from competitive grant programs to classroom restorations.
• $53 million of the competitive grant funds should be redirected to expanding quality pre-kindergarten as recommended by the Board of Regents
• Add additional funds for classroom restorations.
• Institute cost savings initiatives that are recommended in the report.

A PDF of the full report as well as regional data sets can be found HERE.  Seven press conferences were held in across the state including in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton Albany, Mt. Vernon, and Wyandanch.

Additional Quotes

“We are a high performing rural school district with about 850 students (K-12) and a graduate rate typically exceeding 90%.  We have reduced our budget three years in a row and used an increasing portion of our fund balance to balance the budget.  We have already had to cut back on the quality of education by eliminating our elementary school librarian, reduced or eliminated staff and eliminated our summer program.  The task of developing a balanced budget that supports our education and is affordable to our taxpayers is becoming more difficult because our revenue sources are decreasing while our expenses continue to rise.    At some point the math just doesn’t work anymore”, said Cecilia Tkaczyk, President of the Duanesburg Central School Board of Education and mother of a 7th grader. “The Duanesburg School District faces a $1 million deficit in next year’s budget.  What are our choices?  Raise taxes on the local homeowner 18%, or cut $1 million out in expenses (eliminate Kindergarten, sports, clubs, music and art, AP courses), or wipe out our fund balance. None of these choices are acceptable.  The proposed state budget is simply inadequate to provide the quality of education our children need to succeed.”

“When we invest in learning for our youngest children, we’re guaranteeing the best return on investment for our community,” said Ivette Alfonso, President of Citizen Action of New York. “Study after study has shown that providing our children with quality Pre-K helps to ensure their future success, getting them ready for kindergarten, college, and careers. As the mother of a child who has attended Pre-K, I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact that these programs have. We call on our elected officials to expand funding for Pre-K, giving our kids the opportunity they need to become the future leaders of New York.”

“Mount Vernon City School District is a high poverty district that faces many challenges and has many educational needs. Many of our schools did not make adequate yearly progress and now we are a district in need of improvement.  Our children have lost teachers in English, Math, Music, Art, and Media/Library.  We don’t have enough textbooks and resource materials for our children.  The district does not have the funds to provide adequate Regent/RCT prep classes and Academic Intervention/Support Services to our children. The budget cuts have really hurt our children.  Our children attending the Mount Vernon City School District are not the children of millionaires’ or billionaires’; but they also deserve a quality education. There’s no way our children can get a quality education without adding additional funding restorations to our school system,” said Brenda Crump, Mount Vernon, parent.

“I am an assistant teacher at Shepherd’s Gate which has a universal pre-k program in Brentwood.  What I love about the program is that the children come in not able to read or write in English or in Spanish and leave the program not only reading and writing in both languages but also speaking in English and Spanish.  My concern is that this program might not be available for children next year due to past cuts. I’m asking that the $53 million dollars that the Board of Regents proposed for New York State gets approved so that the quality of education isn’t lost in our early care programs,” said Margarita Romero, Brentwood Assistant Teacher.

“Despite the many challenges we face in Albany, over the last four years our state aid has declined by $11 million dollars, even as our enrollment has increased. We are already doing more with less. The Governor’s budget proposal falls far short of meeting our students’ needs. We are not asking for a handout – but we are asking for a fairer share of the resources we need to meet our students’ needs,” said Dan Egan, Albany School Board President.

“In the Syracuse City School district we have lost more than 700 teachers and support staff for our students which has caused class sizes to be increased, a loss or reduction of vital programs, including electives, sports, and music. These are the kinds of programs that our schools need to help students prepare for college and careers,” said Eliza Sampson, Syracuse City School parent.

“This has become a pattern, when things need to be cut the first to go is the necessities of the children’s education. Two of my children go to School 16 in Troy where we have a pool facility that can’t even be used due to budget cuts, why?” said Emily Pena, Troy School 16 parent.

“In the Southern Tier, in our schools we have seen significant reductions in teachers and teachers aides, after-school program cuts that provide vital services to our youth, especially those that are at-risk, to name a few. Our area is considered high needs and so it is important to our kid’s future that our state leaders provide fair funding to ensure that all of our students have an opportunity to learn,” said Talia Moore, Binghamton parent advocate.

“For students in high needs districts like Buffalo the state’s promise to finally provide adequate funding to help every student receive a world class education has never been fulfilled. In Buffalo we need real investment in students who are getting suspended, dropping out and not graduating.  We need educational resources like guidance counseling, support services, tutoring and a broad and demanding curriculum designed to keep these students in school and get them back on track to success. The state budget as currently proposed is not going to get the job done,” said Jim Anderson, Buffalo Board Member, Citizen Action of New York.

“Past years cuts have produced a culture of shock and survival, where true support for teaching, has taken a back seat to just avoid sinking and falling further behind. In the last 2 years, budget cuts have forced our school to cut aides in the dual-language program.  To weaken such a valuable program hurts the future of all students, so we hope that New York State will begin to prioritize high needs school districts and provide our schools with the funding they need to offer a strong education for all,” said Luis Torres, parent at School #12, Rochester.

“The Hudson Valley has several districts facing educational insolvency.  Many high needs districts are considering or have already closed elementary schools and more will be closed this coming year if we experience more cuts.  Special education aides have been cut in Kingston and in Hyde Park special education students no longer benefit from self-contained classrooms in which they get undivided attention, but instead have joined general education classes which has nearly doubled class sizes to 30 students.  State aid needs to be distributed in a way that supports our neediest schools and students rather than increasing their burden,” said Odell Winfield, Co-Founder of Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Library, Poughkeepsie.

“As a parent of school children here in Queens, I have seen instances where my special need child has to have classes in the hallway because they do not have sufficient space,” said Margarita Mendoza, a Queens parent and a member of Make the Road New York. “We need to make sure that the state invests more in our children’s education and that our schools get the necessary resources to help all of our children succeed. It is time that the State Legislature do its part.”

###

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Statement of Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

“New York should take President Obama’s challenge and be the first state to pass a law to keep all students in school and learning until they reach the age of 18,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education. “And just as President Obama has called on Congress to take steps now to halt the growth of college student debt,  New York should stop the growth of student debt now.”

###

 Alliance for Quality Education

Calls for $200 Million in Competitive Grants to be Redirected to General Support and Foundation Aid for Schools

For Immediate Release: Monday, January 23, 2012

 For Info:

Nikki Jones, AQE Communications Director, 518-432-5315

Zakiyah Ansari, AQE Advocacy Director, 212-328-9266

(Albany, NY) In a joint committee budget hearing of the Senate Finance and the Assembly Ways and Means Committees, the Alliance for Quality Education is calling on the Legislature to take additional steps to ensure that average and high needs districts are prioritized. AQE is calling for the Legislature to redirect the $200 million proposed increase in competitive grants included in the Executive Budget to general support and foundation aid for schools.  As proposed the Executive Budget would only restore $550 million in school aid, which includes only $290 million in classroom aid.  Even if the $200 million is redirected from competitive grants to classroom aid it will be inadequate compared to the devastating $2.7 billion cut from classrooms over the past two years. AQE is calling for the legislature to make additional restorations and to consider closing corporate tax loopholes as a way to provide revenues. In addition, AQE is calling for an increase in Pre-K funding by $53 million – as proposed by the New York State Board of Regents.

“The idea of making our schools and school children compete for school aid means that some of our children will be winners and some will be losers,” said Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director, AQE, a mother of eight. “I can’t imagine having my kids compete for dinner knowing that they are all hungry. Our children are in need of nourishment in the name of art, music, college prep courses, after school programs and technology. Who is going to choose which of them gets fed?”

The testimony will be provided by AQE’s Communications Director, Nikki Jones and Zakiyah Ansari, AQE’s Advocacy Director.  Ms. Ansari is the mother of eight children, four of whom have graduated from New York City public schools and four of whom are currently enrolled.

 School Aid Restorations

“The Executive budget falls short of the proposal the Board of Regents put forth,” said Ms. Ansari. “Last year’s state budget promised an $805 million in school aid restorations, but if $250 million is diverted into competitive grants this will leave only $555 million in allocated school aid.  The $555 Million proposed is only 2.86%  restoration, not the 4.1% committed.  This amount will not even keep up with inflation, so classrooms will again see cuts.  A rural district like Jordan-Elbridge in Onondaga County lost $2052 per pupil over the past two years would only get a $239 per pupil restoration.  If the legislature does not fix this problem, once again the promise to our kids will be broken.”

Competitive Grants

“Everywhere you turn people are talking about college readiness; these competitive grants will only ensure that SOME have the chance to be college ready.  One or the other may be denied access to a guidance counselor because their school lost resources as a result of a competition,”

said Ms. Ansari.  “Competition might be healthy if you’re training for a race or on a team but its’ not healthy or okay when you have rural parts of the state like Jordan-Elbridge competing with Scarsdale or New York City competing with Syosset  or needy districts like Binghamton and Buffalo competing with each other for money desperately needed to ensure that all our children have an opportunity to learn.  Test scores should not be used to determine whether or not students will receive the classroom resources they need to succeed.”

 “We began last week by honoring the memory of Dr. King I wonder what he would say if he knew we were considering making our children compete to get to the mountain top,” Ms. Ansari said.

Educational Performance

“I understand the importance of successful performance of holding the bar high. My eldest daughter Anisah graduated high school with an Advance Regents diploma, graduated from Baruch College Cum Laude, B.A. Sociology, and last year graduated from Hunter Graduate School of Social Work with her Master’s Degree,” Ms. Ansari said.  “She will begin her PhD in Criminal Justice in March 2012. My daughter Aliyah graduated valedictorian from her high school also with an Advanced  Regents diploma and last year graduated from NYU with a B.A. Africana Studies.”

 “As parents we have high expectations and dreams for our children no matter if we are rich, poor, or an immigrant we want better for our children than what we had. We want them to be successful, productive citizens and ultimately leave our homes and only come back to visit. The fact is if they don’t get a good education, they won’t get a good job and if they don’t get a job, they are more likely to wind up in jail for which we always find the money.”

Text of the testimony can be found HERE.

Alliance for Quality Education Responds to 2012 Executive Budget Proposal

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, January 17, 2012

 For Information: Nikki Jones, AQE Communications Director, (518) 432-5315

Statement of Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

School Aid and Competitive Grants

“We commend Governor Cuomo for restoring $805 million in school aid; these funds will help students throughout the state.  The exact distribution of these funds and how much is prioritized to high need and average need school districts will take a few days to evaluate. We are greatly concerned that almost one-third of these funds could be distributed based on competition between school districts which has the potential to create a system of educational winners and losers among our students.  It is important to note that last year the state moved backwards on its commitment to quality education by enacting huge classroom cuts that resulted in larger class sizes and narrowing of the curriculum.  Students need the budget to focus on restoring these classroom cuts for all, not only for those whose schools win at a competition.”

Cost Savings through Centralizing School Bus Purchasing

“Governor Cuomo has proposed a new cost savings initiative that would centralize the purchasing of school buses through a single statewide contract. This is the type of cost saving initiative from the state we need to see more of and we commend Governor Cuomo for providing the leadership to advance this type of common sense cost savings solution.”

###

Download Full Release Here

For Immediate Release, January 10, 2012

For Info: Nikki Jones, Communications Director, 518-432-5315 ext 101

535 Parents & Students from 42 School Districts Converge on Albany to

Lobby for All Students 

Demand Equity in Distribution of $805 Million in School Aid the Governor has

Committed to Put in His Budget 

Support Closing Corporate Loopholes to Provide Additional Classroom Restorations, Pre-Kindergarten, and Affordable Higher Education

 (Albany)—More than 535 parents and students from 42 school districts across New York rallied in Albany for quality education and to prepare every student for college and careers.  The parents, lobbying on behalf of their children, and students, lobbying on their own behalf, called for the Governor to prioritize equity and educational opportunity in his public schools budget.

]]> http://www.aqeny.org/2012/01/release-535-parents-and-students-converge-on-albany-to-fight-for-all-students/feed/ 0 http://www.aqeny.org/2012/01/release-gov-cuomo-is-invited-to-meet-with-student-lobbyists/ http://www.aqeny.org/2012/01/release-gov-cuomo-is-invited-to-meet-with-student-lobbyists/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:03:58 +0000 Emily http://www.aqeny.org/?p=1280  RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 5, 2012

For Info:   Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director, Alliance for Quality Education 917-309-5742 (cell)

 “Governor Cuomo: You Are Cordially Invited To Meet With The Students’ Lobbyists”

Zakiyah Ansari invites Governor Cuomo to meet with parents and students on next Tuesday, January 10, 2012, at an event organized by the Alliance for Quality Education.

WATCH VIDEO HERE

“Yesterday, I traveled to Albany to listen to the State of the State. I am appalled, as a mother of eight children, that the Governor believes he is a better advocate for our children than we are as parents and students,” Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director for the Alliance for Quality Education.

“On January 10^th, hundreds of parents and students from across the state will be traveling to Albany to continue to fight and advocate for quality education. We invite the Governor to meet with us and tell us how he plans to bring fairness to our schools,” said Ansari.

###

 For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 4, 2012

For Info:   Nikki Jones – AQE, Communications Director 315-416-9393(cell)

 AQE RESPONDS TO THE STATE OF THE STATE

Statements from:

Nikki Jones, Communications Director for the Alliance for Quality Education

Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director for the Alliance for Quality Education 917-309-5742

“If Governor Cuomo intends to be an effective lobbyist for every school child across the state his budget will incorporate the New York State Board of Regents call for fairness and equity in our schools by prioritizing funding to high needs schools. In his first year, it was Governor Cuomo’s budget that failed to represent students’ educational needs by slashing 11,000 teaching positions and cutting arts, music, after school and college prep courses,” said Nikki Jones, Communications Director for the Alliance for Quality Education.

 “Governor Cuomo said that he is going to be the lobbyist for our children, as a mother of eight children I ‘lobbied’ for my children along with thousands of other parents from across the state against the devastating classroom cuts that Governor Cuomo implemented last year. What our children need Governor Cuomo to do is to listen to what parents and students are saying by restoring funding for lost after school programs, art, music and college prep courses especially for our neediest schools and students,” said Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director for the Alliance for Quality Education.

AQE is the state’s largest coalition of grassroots organizations fighting for quality public schools. The coalition is funded mainly by educational foundations, but does receive a portion of its funding from teacher unions. The agenda for the coalition is set by students, parents, educators and community advocates.

###

 AQE OFFERS ALTERNATIVE STATE OF THE STATE
Fairer Distribution of School Aid Called Top Priority in “State of the Schools” Address
ALBANY, N.Y. – Addressing the needs of poor school districts that have been hit hard by several years of funding cuts is the top educational priority of progressive groups in the New Year, according to the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE).
“If New York can make its tax code fairer, there’s no reason it can’t do the same for its school funding system, said Nikki Jones, Communications Director for AQE.

“When Albany slashes school funding, as it has for three years in row, wealthier districts are so much better equipped to protect schools that poor districts. What we are now seeing in poor districts is appalling: crowded classrooms; greatly reduced class offerings and the elimination of tutoring and other programs. These are severe impacts that must be addressed,” Jones said.
AQE supports a recent proposal by the state Board of Regents that would prioritize funding for high need schools. These high need schools are located in rural areas and small cities primarily, but exist throughout the state.  AQE challenged the Governor’s expected focus on testing in his State of the State address: “Judging school based primarily on test scores in two subjects has resulted in teaching to the test, narrowing of the curriculum and a dumbing down of public education,” Jones said.

Click HERE to send a personal letter to the Governor demanding fairness in your school.