On Board Online • January 18, 2021

By Eric D. Randall
Editor-in-Chief

As the issue of equity in education has moved to the center of efforts to improve public education, the state Board of Regents has unanimously elected its first Black chancellor. Veteran Brooklyn educator Lester Young Jr., a Regent since 2008, was unanimously elected as the Regents' presiding officer on Jan. 11.

On Board Online • January 18, 2021

By Paul Heiser
Senior Research Analyst

The New York State Comptroller has announced that the allowable tax levy growth factor - a key component of each school district's property tax cap - will be 1.23% for 2021-22 school budgets. This is the lowest percentage since it was 0.12% for the 2016-17 budget.

On Board Online • January 18, 2021

By Paul Heiser
Senior Research Analyst

New York State law makes it illegal to pass a stopped school bus when its stop sign is extended and red flashing lights are activated. However, the law is routinely disobeyed. According to the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, an estimated 50,000 motor vehicles illegally pass New York State school buses every day.

FOR RELEASE: January 14, 2021

The release of graduation rate data for students who entered high school in 2016 provides us with a welcome reminder of progress our students and educators have made over the past decade in improving the overall graduation rate and narrowing the achievement gap between Black and Hispanic students and white students.

FOR RELEASE: January 12, 2021

In today’s installment of his 2021 State of the State Address, Governor Cuomo once again highlighted some key issues of concern for students and schools.

FOR RELEASE: January 11, 2021

The governor’s delivery of a State of the State message is a welcome step toward normality as we begin a new year and a new legislative session that feels anything but normal. 

FOR RELEASE: January 11, 2021

We congratulate Regent Lester W. Young, Jr. on his election as chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, and we celebrate his historic role as New York’s first African American Regents chancellor. 

FOR RELEASE: December 23, 2020

It is essential that the $900 billion stimulus plan negotiated and passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner by the Senate and the House of Representatives be signed by the president and implemented immediately. 

FOR RELEASE: December 22, 2020

We are pleased that Congress has passed a new stimulus package. Prior to this package, schools faced the possibility of a $5 billion aid cut. Congress has greatly improved an otherwise dire financial situation for schools.

On Board Online • December 21, 2020

By Robert S. Schneider

Expect the unexpected. That could have been the motto for 2020.

For instance, who would have predicted back in January that the hot "new" holiday gift this year would be chess sets? Credit the Netflix series, "The Queen's Gambit," a welcome distraction for me and many others during a tumultuous 2020.

Let's look back at this year, my first as NYSSBA's executive director. In January, I had a calendar full of plans for face-to-face meetings around the state.