DFER New York
From Our Blog
Continuing Woes in Buffalo, NY
April 19, 2012
By Elizabeth Ling, DFER NY State Director
The federal No Child Left Behind law gave children in failing public schools the right to transfer into better schools. But, for Buffalo schoolchildren, in practice that option means very little.
The situation in Buffalo is so bad that students in 23 of its schools -- representing more than 40% of the district's total schools -- now qualify for a transfer. The high school scenario is particularly egregious. Seven high schools in Buffalo are considered bad enough that their students must be given the option to move to a better school. However, the district offers only one high school for these students to transfer into.
On top of this, the Buffalo school district still has not submitted a teacher evaluation plan that passes muster with the State Education Department. They need to do this in order to reclaim $5.6 million in federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding targeted for its lowest-performing schools.
REPUBLICAN FY 2013 BUDGET PROPOSAL
March 29, 2012
REPUBLICAN FY 2013 BUDGET PROPOSAL
DRAMATIC AND RECKLESS CUTS TO EDUCATION SPENDING
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives began debate on its budget proposal for FY 2013, the upcoming fiscal year that begins October 1st. The debate resumes on the House floor today.
In New York:
• Almost 14,000 children will be eliminated from the Head Start program;
• Nearly 120,000 students with disabilities' costs will shift to states and
districts as part of cuts to IDEA; and,
• Approximately 260,000 students from historically disadvantaged groups will have reduced or eliminated services due to Title I cuts.
Read more here.
Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit: Charters & the NY Teacher Evaluation Law
March 20, 2012
By Elizabeth Ling, DFER NY State Director
Last week, an Assembly bill was introduced that would require charter schools to meet the same teacher evaluation standards as the public school district in which the charter resides. These standards would be aligned with a new statewide teacher evaluation law recently brokered by Governor Cuomo.
The bill's sponsors display a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between how charter schools and traditional district schools currently evaluate their teachers.
District schools typically operate under a regime where over 99% of teachers are rated Satisfactory, with only a handful of the Unsatisfactory teachers removed from their positions each year. Under this system, ineffective educators can stay in the district for years with no consequences to themselves, their principals, or their schools. This is a system that is bad for kids, and the new teacher evaluation law will be an improvement.
Charter schools, in contrast, are held accountable for their results--namely, every 5 years when their charter contract is reviewed by the State Education Department. In return, they are given more autonomy over how to run their operations.
DFER Releases Statement in Support of Governor Cuomo's Proposed School District Grants to Reward Performance Improvement and Management Efficiencies
March 14, 2012
DFER Releases Statement in Support of Governor Cuomo's Proposed School District Grants to Reward Performance Improvement and Management Efficiencies
New York, NY, March 14, 2012 - Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) today released the following statement from New York State Director Elizabeth Ling in support of Governor Cuomo's performance-based grant proposal:
"With his proposal to promote the development of new, innovative approaches in our state's public education system, Governor Cuomo continues his push to make New York's government work better for our citizens. The Governor's proposed $250 million performance-based grant program will reward school districts that demonstrate success in getting students to learn, or in finding ways to run their operations more effectively.
With this small pot of funding - only 1% of the state's $20.3 billion education budget -- the initiative will encourage new ideas and practices at the local level, which can eventually be shared across school districts to make our overall public education system stronger. This is no less than what every resident of our state deserves, and should expect, with our hard-earned tax dollars. In the current proposal, district needs will rightly be considered in determining awards.
At this time, when each dollar of education funding counts, New York cannot continue its historical approach of doing 'business as usual,' as advocated by special interests such as the Alliance for Quality Education and its primary backer, NYSUT. Despite the fact that our public schools spend more money per pupil than those in any other state, New York remains at the bottom of the pack. In fact, our state currently ranks 38th in the nation in terms of graduation rates.
With this innovative program, which could yield outsized results in the form of new ideas and progress, the Governor is showing us that we shouldn't accept the status quo. Just as we work to raise the level of student learning, we can also expect the adults in the system to do better."
Guess it's not just educators that hate Bloomberg's attempt to grade them
March 7, 2012
By Elizabeth Ling, DFER NY State Director
Bloomberg Defends Grading System Derided by Restaurateurs
Some restaurateurs say that the letter grades, which must be displayed in a prominent position, are handed out in unfair and inconsistent ways.
Elizabeth Ling oversees strategy and operations for DFER's New York State advocacy programs. She focuses on building coalitions of various education reform groups, and works with legislators and government officials to help shape public education policies. Read more about Elizabeth here.
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