NYSRA's statement to the Legislature on the 2000-2001 state budget

Joint Budget Hearings
Senate Finance Committee And Assembly Ways And Means Committee February 11, 2000

The New York State Reading Association is comprised of over 6,000 reading professionals who are classroom teachers, reading teachers, college educators, school library/media specialists, curriculum specialists, parents and school administrators. We are committed as professionals to the development of reading skills and to the on-going preparation and education of excellent teachers of reading.

The New York State Reading Association is pleased to share with the Committees our observations and recommendations regarding the 2000-01 Executive Budget Proposal.

GENERAL COMMENTS:

First, we call the attention of legislators to the 2000-2001 budget recommendations offered by the Board of Regents. By offering enhanced educational programs and by proposing a multi-year funding strategy, the Regent's proposal succeeds in recognizing the enormous task of providing a world class education for all our children.

Major reforms are underway that demand accountability. These include (1) quality pre-service education programs, (2) substantial and sustained professional development, (3) performance-based assessment, and (4) modernizing and equipping our schools to achieve the academic needs of our future generation. Accordingly, we need to make continuous investments in each of these areas over the next several years to ensure effective implementation in the interests of improved academic performance for all children.

For these reasons, we strongly support the overall direction of the Regents' proposal, and again urge the Legislature to consider it in the context of the massive educational changes on-going in our schools today.

Second, we are pleased that the Governor's proposal calls for funds to be earmarked by districts to increase performance on the 4th grade English Language Arts assessments. However, we are concerned that his proposal would require a re-direction of general operating aids, which are essential to maintaining the basic classroom programs of local school districts. We support additional monies for this critical area of need, particularly for programs that focus on reading development, such as are included in the Governor's budget. We support the Board of Regents proposal which would adjust the funding distribution formula, thereby targeting increased funding to low-performing and high need districts, while maintaining a level of support for all school districts during a phase in period.

Lastly, the Governor's proposal to restrict local school districts from increasing their budget expenditures by more than 4% in any given year without 2/3 approval of the voters demonstrates a lack of trust of the women and men who administer our schools and are elected by the voters to local school boards. Such financial decisions are best left to informed and prepared local voters. Artificial restrictions should not be imposed by the state govenment.

SPECIFIC COMMENTS:

While the Governor's proposal and his State of the State message recognize the "need to continue to demand high standards and provide support for all students to attain higher academic standards," this proposal does not provide sufficient funding for the variety of initiatives which will be required for school districts to achieve these higher standards for all students. These include the following:

1. adequate funds must be provided for early grade class size reduction. The state cannot simply rely on the federal government to provide the support for this initiative. The need is too great and too immediate. We must invest $140 million in state funds to ensure speedy and effective reduction of class sizes, especially in the early grades where the development of reading skills is crucial;
2. increase funding for the Universal Pre-Kindergarten program to enable all eligible children to participate in the program as originally proposed in the LADDER initiative. Simply put, the state should honor the commitment it made in 1997 to bring that program to a level of $225 million in 2000-2001. Program plans and local investments have been developed based on that original projection. If the state is serious about the positive benefits of pre-kindergarten programs, we cannot fluctuate the funding level year to year and still expect stable programming and overall program success. The funding should be increased as promised and the $2700 per pupil expenditure level assured for new programs;
3. substantial financial support (at least $86 million) must be provided for essential summer academic programs, including transportation costs. Many more school districts face the need for summer programming as a preferred approach to providing extra time and extra help for students. Implementation of such programs will be seriously hampered without additional state funding support to local school districts;
4. BOCES aid should continue essentially at current levels. Reductions in BOCES aid will make it more difficult for school districts to participate in cooperatively funded programs. This is counterproductive and should be avoided;
5. funding for school-based libraries and public libraries should be increased by the state, not merely retained at current levels. The notion of "not reducing" funding is inconsistent with our stated needs and objectives. We must take the approach to increase funding to meet the needs we have as an information-based society. We support initiatives such as the "NOVELL" project proposed by the Board of Regents which will increase access to library resources for our children and families. School library aid should be increased to at least $15 million in the coming year;
6. the New York State Reading Association continues to support a requirement that all schools in New York State have a school library staffed by a certified school library media specialist. A child's success and love for reading often begins with the experience of selecting a book from the school library. We urge you to act now to require school libraries in all buildings, to increase funding for professional staff and to equip all school libraries with quality literature, internet access, and on-line reference materials. Libraries within schools must become the hub for information resources;
7. NYSRA urges the Legislature to increase funding for Operating Standards Aid to at least the $178 million level recommended by the Regents. We further recommend that you ensure that all school districts in the state receive funds sufficient to enable schools to mount effective programs to assist all students to attain the higher standards. Funding for Academic Intervention Services Aid (previously ERSSA), should be increased significantly to at least $117 million. This will enable us to increase pre-intervention services to students to avert placements in special education, thereby increasing interventions within general education settings as required by new federal education requirements (IDEA);
8. NYSRA continues to support the state's 1997 commitment to significantly increase textbook aid. Teachers cannot implement higher standards when using textbooks which are several years old and which are not aligned with current core curricula. Increasing textbook aid to the level of $182 million as promised in 1997 is essential to meeting our learning objectives;
9. NYSRA opposes the consolidation of the Office of Higher Education with the Office of the Professions within the Education Department. While an argument could be made that there are some similarities in the activities of both offices, the fact remains that each office has a different mission. The Office of Higher Education includes the Office of Teaching which is responsible for oversight of teacher certification and preparation. This function should remain separate from the Department's overall responsibilities for regulating and monitoring all licensed professions;
10. ) we are very concerned about the Governor's proposal to create a new Office of Cultural Resources and to transfer services and funding mechanisms for school libraries and public libraries into the new office. These functions, particularly those relating to school libraries should remain within the jurisdiction of the Education Department as they directly support school-based activities.

We appreciate this opportunity to share our recommendations and observations with you. The education of our children is at stake in the review and passage of this year's budget. In recent years, we have made great strides to reform and strengthen our education system in New York State. Those efforts require our continued investment and commitment, particularly at a time in our history when we can afford to make such investments.

For the New York State Reading Association:

Ann Stampf, President

Maureen Goodwin, Government Affairs Chair

{For further information, please contact our legislative representatives at Carr Public Affairs, Inc., in Albany at 518-434-8830}