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THE STATE
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 |
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TO: |
The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents |
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FROM: |
James A. Kadamus |
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COMMITTEE: |
Subcommittee on State Aid |
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TITLE OF
ITEM: |
Preliminary Directions for Regents State Aid Proposal for 2005-06 |
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DATE OF
SUBMISSION: |
August 23, 2004 |
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PROPOSED
HANDLING: |
Information |
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RATIONALE FOR
ITEM: |
Policy Development |
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STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goal 2 |
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY:
This material is provided for your information. Time will be available for questions following the joint meeting of the Regents EMSC-VESID Committee and the Subcommittee on State Aid, at which we will discuss your strategy for improving student performance and the accountability and fiscal integrity of school districts.
Attachment A Preliminary Directions for the Regents Proposal on State Aid to School Districts for School Year 2005-06
Attachment B Timeline for activities related to the development of the Regents State Aid proposal
Attachment C Primer on the Laws of 2004 relating to State Aid to school districts, incorporating information from the newly enacted State budget
Attachments
Preliminary Directions for the Regents Proposal
on State Aid to School Districts for School Year
2005-06
The Regents State Aid proposal for 2005-06 will
request the funding necessary to provide adequate resources so that all students
have the opportunity to achieve State learning standards. Additionally, this is the second year of
a multi-year proposal recommending transition to a foundation formula based on
the costs of successful educational programs.
Four principles underlie the Regents
proposal:
- Adequacy—Effective distribution across all
districts will ensure adequate resources for acceptable student achievement.
- Equity—School funding will equalize differences
in school districts’ fiscal capacity, pupil need and regional costs to
maintain comparable levels of local effort in school districts across the
State.
- Accountability—The education system will
measure outcomes and use those measures to ensure that financial resources are
used effectively. As part of the
Regents goal that education resources will be used or maintained in the public
interest, the Regents employ a two-prong strategy. The Department will give greater
flexibility to districts with acceptable student achievement and will
encourage the most efficient and effective use of resources in districts not
yet meeting State standards.
- Balance ¾The State should balance stability in funding
and targeting aid to close student achievement gaps. It should drive aid based on current
needs, and use hold-harmless provisions to provide stability only for a
reasonable period of time.
Staff recommend that the Regents consider the
following focus areas for their 2005-06 proposal:
Adopt a Foundation Program.
The proposed foundation aid consolidates 29 existing aid programs and
adjusts for regional cost differences, pupil needs and an expected local
contribution for each school district, based on ability to pay. The foundation level of funding is based
on the cost of educating students in successful school districts. This area will include options for
promoting the foundation program.
Special Education Funding. The
Regents will explore options for improving the funding of special education in
meetings around the State with educators and the public. Participants will consider how funding
can best support program goals of
improved student achievement and education of students with
disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Options include folding aid for special
education into the foundation program or not, and for each option, whether to
base aid on a count of students with disabilities or on measures, such as
districtwide enrollment and poverty, outside the control of school
districts.
Strengthen Accountability for the Use of
Funds. This focus area will examine ways
to strengthen the education system to answer the question: How do we know if
resources are well spent? It will
recommend continued support for state-of-the-art systems for processing State
Aid and gathering and reporting information on students and resources. It will recommend a strengthened State
Education Department capacity to provide technical assistance to school
districts in fiscal or programmatic crisis and to audit school districts. It will explore statutory barriers to
improving student achievement and make recommendations for removing
them.
Continued Examination of Local
Effort. An aspect of fiscal accountability
concerns whether localities contribute their fair share of education
funding. Additional State Aid will
translate into improved student achievement only if it supplements, rather than
replaces, local support for education.
For several years, the Regents have reviewed the status of local support
for education around the State and considered the results in crafting State Aid
recommendations. A report to the
Regents is planned for October.
Regional Services for the Big
Five. This focus area would explore
programmatic options and funding schemes to allow our largest cities to benefit
from regional approaches to professional development for teachers, instructional
technology and career and technical education. The goal would be to provide expanded
program options and funding to allow city children to have similar educational
opportunities as children attending suburban school districts. This area will examine alternatives for
allowing Buffalo, Yonkers, Syracuse and Rochester to purchase BOCES services and
receive State Aid for a portion of the expense. It will examine how to provide
comparable aid for comparable services provided by the New York City school
district.
Building Aid.
This focus area will examine options for improving the use of State
Building Aid to close the student achievement gap. It will examine options for simplifying
cost allowances used to determine aid.
It will consider ways to improve the equitable and adequate distribution
of aid, including options for “catch up.”
It will examine options for increasing efficiency in the use of State
funds for school construction.
Schedule for Regents Meetings for Developing the
Regents State Aid Proposal for
2005-06
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Date |
Reports/Topics |
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May
2004 |
Special education
funding Schedule of reports
for developing the 2005-06 proposal |
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June
2004 |
Update on State budget
(as available) Reaffirm proposal
goals Education Finance
Research Consortium: Synthesis of school finance symposium and update on
Consortium Schedule of reports
for developing the 2005-06 proposal |
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July
2004 |
Compressed meeting (no
item on State Aid) |
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August
2004 |
Meeting of Education
Finance Advisory Group |
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September
2004 |
Meetings with
educators and public forums on special education funding: Long Island
(9/20/04); Rochester (9/23/04); New York City (9/27/04); and Albany
(9/29/04) |
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September
2004 |
Assessing Progress:
Reviewing legislative action in comparison with proposals (pending passage
of the State budget) Proposal preliminary
directions Primer presentation on
State Aid Schedule of reports
for developing the 2005-06 proposal |
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October
2004 |
Meeting of Education
Finance Advisory Group |
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October
2004 |
Update on local effort
in support of education Review proposal
directions Report on focus forums
on special education funding Schedule of reports
for developing the 2005-06 proposal |
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November
2004 |
Meeting of Education
Finance Advisory Group |
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November
2004 |
Review draft of
conceptual proposal Schedule of reports
for developing the 2005-06 proposal |
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December
2004 |
Action on final
proposal with the dollar amount recommended and the overall distribution
of aid Schedule of reports
for developing the 2005-06 proposal |
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January 2005 – April
2005 |
Legislative advocacy
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