While E.J. McMahon (stimulus poison) has a point about the down side of the latest federal bailout for states, he does sound a bit like the boy who cried wolf. The question is, will/can the federal gravy keep coming? How about next year, when, according to the August delegate newsletter of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System, the employer contribution rate "will represent a significant increase" over the current 8.62 percent?
The Times Union says the new federal education money amounts to $607 million, which the state Legislature will have to come back and appropriate for distribution by the state Education Department -- and "The money is restricted to avoiding layoffs."
That restriction is unfortunate, because dollars are urgently needed within the Education Department itself, to stop further damage to the Regents exams. According to an Aug. 2 memo from Senior Deputy Education Commissioner John King, planned budget-driven reductions include "elimination of component retesting in math and ELA [English]", "elimination of grades 5 and 8 social studies exams," "elimination of grade 8 second language proficiency exams," "elimination of August administration of algebra 2/trigonometry and chemistry [exams]," and elimination of high school foreign language Regents exams except for Spanish, French and possibly Italian.
This will reduce opportunities for all New York students, including those needing to relearn and master material, reduce information for parents and administrators regarding how much or little students are learning, and reduce the incentive for teachers (especially the indifferent ones protected by tenure) to do their jobs effectively. King and the current Regents board have been acknowledging past mistakes, and should be encouraged not to make new ones.
For many recent years, state school aid increased at several times the rate of inflation, and there is lots of room for cuts as well as for mandate relief, building aid rationalization and the like. But the reaction against the Bush-era No Child Left Behind Law and "teaching to the test" threatens to deny funding exactly where it is most needed.
(Social networking resolution: The TU article referred to above is by Scott Waldman, whom I don't remember having met but whose friend request has been sitting on my Facebook account. Having linked to him, I guess I'd better get with the program and say yes. )
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