Where we stand on three big issues

On Board Online • June 12, 2017

MaryEllen Elia
Commissioner of Education

As another school year draws to a close, I'd like to take this opportunity to review with you where we stand on three issues that are critically important to our schools, our students and our state: the proposed federal budget, New York's revised learning standards and our draft plan to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Simply put, President Trump's proposed budget would be a disaster in terms of its impact on education both here in New York and nationally. The president would slash education funding by $9.2 billion (a 13.5 percent reduction), which would result in more than $433 million in cuts to programs in New York State. These draconian cuts will have far-reaching impacts across the nation, with life-shattering consequences for New York's children, adults and communities, particularly those in economically disadvantaged situations. If these proposed cuts become reality, gaps and inequities in education will grow, eliminating the progress that, together, we have worked so hard to achieve.

The State Education Department receives $3.6 billion in federal funding each year, most of which is passed on to your local school districts to support at-risk children. By eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for New York, President Trump's budget would eviscerate after-school programs, community learning centers, teacher preparation, work study, adult education and cultural programs. These are the very programs that help our most at-risk students and communities.

As advocates for New York's children, Chancellor Rosa, the Regents and I have told our representatives in Congress, in the strongest terms, that these wholesale cuts are unacceptable. But the Regents and I can't do it alone. We need your help - as individuals, as boards of education, and as a large and powerful statewide organization representing hundreds of school districts - to fight for the funding we need to support our students so they can succeed in life.

While the potential impact of the Trump budget is, indeed, frightening, the news regarding our revised learning standards is much more encouraging. As you know, we started the process to develop new standards nearly two years ago, with a survey that received more than 10,500 comments. The process has been collaborative, deliberative and transparent. NYSSBA and its members have been fully engaged at every step along the way, as have educators, parents and experts in educating English language learners, students with disabilities and our youngest learners.

The standards that have emerged from this process, the "Next Generation English Language Arts and Mathematics Learning Standards," continue to be rigorous. They will challenge New York's students to do more and to prepare them for life in the 21st century. Right now, State Education Department staff are reviewing the latest round of public comments. Following this final review, the standards will go before the Regents for approval. Once they are approved, staff will work with BOCES district superintendents, school superintendents, the Staff and Curriculum Development Network and teacher centers to develop and provide guidance on professional development for teachers to implement them. We worked very hard to avoid the mistakes that were made previously - we have not, and we will not, rush the development and implementation of these standards.

I'm also happy to report that our work on the state's ESSA plan is proceeding nicely, and we are on track to submit an excellent, approvable plan to the U.S. Department of Education in September. As you know, ESSA gives states greater flexibility to differentiate schools' performance and the supports and interventions to be provided when schools are deemed in need of improvement.

Our plan expands the measures used to determine school accountability beyond the traditional benchmarks in English language arts and mathematics. It expands those accountability measures to also include science, social studies, acquisition of English proficiency by English language learners and chronic absenteeism. And the plan would ensure a continued focus on students who need extra time to meet graduation requirements by including five- and six-year graduation rates within the accountability system. Finally, and this is critically important, our plan looks not only at students' proficiency, but also at their growth over time. In short, we are taking a more holistic approach to accountability than ever before.

In addition to meeting the requirements of ESSA, New York's plan supports the Regents' goal of increasing equity in the educational opportunities available to all students across the state. This idea of fostering equity drove much of our work. We designed the accountability system to require schools and districts to reduce the gaps in achievement that exist among certain student populations.

As with the development of the Next Generation Learning Standards, we have taken an open, deliberative and inclusive approach in developing our draft ESSA plan - including a series of 13 public hearings around the state that will conclude on June 15. I know many of you have been deeply involved in the process, and I thank you for your continuing commitment.

I'm looking forward to the summer, and I hope you are too. We all need to take some time to relax and unwind with friends, family and loved ones after the school year ends. At the same time, however, we can't let our important work on the standards and ESSA go unfinished - we're too close to finalizing this terrific work.