On Wednesday, April 3 at 7:00 pm Haldane's Board of Education will convene to adopt the spending plan that it hopes the voters will approve on May 21. The Board has reviewed three proposals, and the current budget proposal (Proposal #3) contains reductions in several areas, explained in a recent presentation from March 19.
Following is an excerpt from yesterday's New York State Budget announcement from Governor Andrew Cuomo. At this time, the specific implications of this budget on Haldane's revenue from state aid are unknown.
Education Investments and Reforms:
Increasing Funding for Education: The Budget reflects New York State’s focus on creating a world-class education system that will fully prepare all of New York's students to compete in the 21st Century economy. To accomplish the goal, the Budget includes an increase of nearly $1 billion in school aid. (4.9%)
Pre-kindergarten Program Expansion: Recognizing that quality early education is critical for long-term success and that children who attend full-day pre-k often outperform their peers, the Budget provides a $25 million additional investment for pre-kindergarten with an emphasis on high quality, full-day pre-k. Funding is targeted toward higher need students in lower wealth school districts via a competitive process.
State Increases Tied to Teacher Evaluations: To maintain New York State’s leadership in holding teachers accountable for student achievement, the Budget continues to tie increases in funding for education to the implementation of a teacher evaluation system.
Extended Learning Time: Our existing education calendar is still based on an agrarian system and the United States lags behind other nations in terms of how much time students spend in the classroom. In order to provide increased learning opportunities, the Budget includes $20 million to support high-quality extended school day or extended school year programs, with academically enriched programming. Schools that apply to participate in the program must agree to expand learning time by 25 percent. The state will cover the full cost of expanding learning time for students.
Community Schools: Recognizing that a school is not just a "school" in distressed communities and that the demands of schools in wealthier districts are different than demands in lowest wealth districts, the Budget provides $15 million to support innovative programs designed to transform schools into community hubs that integrate social, health and other services, as well as after-school programming to support students and their families.
Reward High-Performing Teachers: To improve results and incentive high-performance, the Budget provides $11 million to implement a program that will offer $15,000 in annual stipends for four years to the most effective teachers beginning with math and science teachers.
Early College High School Programs: To improve college access and success, the Budget provides $4 million in new state funding to expand Early College High School programs.
Bar Exam for Teachers: To ensure the best and brightest are teaching our children, the State Education Department will increase the standards for teacher certification to require passage of a “bar exam,” in addition to longer, more intensive and high-quality student-teaching experience in a school setting.
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