FOR RELEASE: June 11, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
The New York State School Boards Association recognizes that the reasonable testing of students is an important tool to evaluate student, teacher, and school performance.
That said, school boards have concerns that too much testing is eating into instructional time, to the detriment of our students.
From school board members, the message is clear: less testing for students means more instructional time from teachers.
More...FOR RELEASE: June 11, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
While there are many school districts in New York with graduation rates well above average, other districts are struggling.
School boards and state policymakers must work in tandem to improve the situation. We can begin, for example, by targeting academic support, investing in literacy programs and using technology to foster personalized learning – all programs that have proven effective at dropout prevention.
More...FOR RELEASE: May 16, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
Overall, 96% of school budgets pass
New York State voters approved 96.4 percent of school district budgets on Tuesday, May 15, according to an analysis by the New York State School Boards Association.
“Today’s results are a ringing endorsement by voters of their public schools and place an exclamation point on the fact that local school governance works,” said NYSSBA Executive Director Timothy G. Kremer.
Initial statewide results gathered by NYSSBA indicate voters have passed 651 of 675 school district budgets. The number of budgets defeated was 24.
This is the first year school districts have had to contend with a property tax cap. Six hundred twenty-three districts, or 92.8 percent, were at or below their maximum allowable tax levy increases under the cap, and required a simple majority to pass their budgets. Of those districts, 99.2 percent passed.
More...FOR RELEASE: May 9, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
-or- Michael Borges (518) 434-2281
As school districts present their first budgets to voters under the property tax cap on May 15, they have cut instructional and non-instructional staff, sports, extracurricular activities and elective courses, as well as maintenance and transportation in order to keep their budgets within the cap.
Those are the findings of a new survey of 403 school districts released today by the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) and the New York State Association of School Business Officials (NYSASBO).
Based on responses to the survey, the groups estimate that those 403 districts alone will eliminate a total of 4,263 positions, including both teachers and non-teachers, in the 2012-13 school year.
“School leaders are taking extraordinary steps to keep their budgets in line with the tax levy cap,” said NYSSBA Executive Director Timothy G. Kremer. “They are negotiating salary freezes, sharing administrators, and outsourcing services. But that isn’t always enough.”
FOR RELEASE: April 30, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
Timothy G. Kremer, Executive Director, New York State School Boards Association
Gov. Cuomo has established an all-star cast for his New NY Education Reform Commission, with one notable omission: the absence of any school board member. The perspective of those who are elected by their communities to provide leadership and direction, oversee millions in taxpayer dollars, and make decisions about programs that impact students for the rest of their lives ought to have a place at the table.
More...FOR RELEASE: April 26, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
Statement by Timothy G. Kremer, Executive Director, New York State School Boards Association
This week brought some good news for school districts and property taxpayers.
According to data from the State Education Department, 92 percent of school districts are proposing tax levy increases at or below their maximum allowable tax levy in their upcoming budgets.
While school districts are allowed to raise their property tax levies by 3.0 percent in 2012-13, on average, they are proposing increases of just 2.3 percent.
That’s more than a full percentage point below last year’s statewide average tax levy increase of 3.4 percent – when schools saw a 93 percent budget passage rate – and also below the average tax levy increase of 3.2 percent in 2010-11, in which 92 percent of budgets passed.
More...For Release: Immediate - Monday, April 23, 2012
Contact: David Albert, Director of Communications and Research, NYSSBA
(518) 783-3716 | david.albert@nyssba.org
Steve Janack, Vice President for Marketing and Communications, CNSE
(518) 956-7322 | sjanack@albany.edu
Nominations are now being accepted for the inaugural ‘Be the Change for Kids Innovation Awards’
Innovative local school programs that help students gain important 21st century learning and career skills in emerging fields such as nanotechnology will be rewarded under a new partnership between the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany.
“In line with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s advocacy for the future of our children in further developing the UAlbany NanoCollege as an international nanotechnology powerhouse, this collaboration will help enable our schools to be active partners in developing our future high-tech workforce,” said CNSE Senior Vice President and CEO Dr. Alain Kaloyeros. “CNSE is delighted to join with the New York State School Boards Association on an initiative that will ultimately encourage students to pursue educational and career paths in the fast-growing field of nanotechnology, giving New York an important competitive advantage in the global economy.”
More...FOR RELEASE: March 27, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
Governor Cuomo and the state Legislature earn straight As for a school funding increase, an on-time state budget and two-year predictability.
The 2012-13 state budget incorporates much of what NYSSBA and its member districts have advocated throughout negotiations.
The budget ensures that state aid increases target high-needs school districts. Lawmakers struck a balance between the desire to promote innovation through competitive grants and schools' need for flexible operating aid.
More...FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
In a flurry of legislative activity, state lawmakers passed two key reforms that will have far-reaching implications on school districts in New York State for generations to come.
Pension Reform
By enacting a new Tier VI in the state retirement system, Governor Cuomo and the Legislature challenged the status quo in New York. As new employees contribute more into the pension system under Tier VI, school districts and local governments should expect to see their contribution rates decline, thereby freeing up needed revenue for classroom programs and easing the burden on taxpayers.
The optional defined contribution plan is a leap forward in the way we provide retirement security for our new non-union employees. This is a significant reform that should rightfully be available as an option for all new employees.
More...FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 13, 2012
CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell
On Twitter: @nyschoolboards
The budget resolutions put forth by both the state Senate and Assembly are very helpful to school districts.
School boards appreciate that both houses reduced funding for Governor Cuomo’s School Aid Incentive Grant Program from $250 million to $50 million, and shifted $200 million of that funding toward the day-to-day operations of high-need school districts throughout the state.
A $250 million competitive grant program that recognizes laudable gains in student performance and administrative efficiencies simply does not make sense this year when so many districts are teetering on the brink of financial insolvency, and when a $50 million grant program introduced this past fiscal year drew application from only 70 school districts.
More...