Public Education at the Crossroads Held on May 1

PUBLIC EDUCATION AT THE CROSSROADS
Educational Forum: Tax Cap Means Broken Schools

Take Action Long Island (TALI) hosted a forum on May 1st joining residents from Long Island to
give a voice to our problems relating to the tax cap and testing. Over 1100 educators, parents,
administrators and support staff listened to featured guest speaker Diane Ravitch, author, blogger,
professor and former Asst. Secretary of Education discuss how public education is being eroded by
greedy corporations advocating charter schools that don’t work. Students are being forced to take
high stakes tests that do not accurately assess what they know.

A panel discussion followed featuring two Deputy Superintendents for Business, a public school
teacher representative and a parent/PTA representative. The result? A unified reaction:

Public Education is in danger!

Governor Cuomo’s tax cap is choking our districts. Local school board decisions are being
controlled by the bureaucrats in Albany and one person, one vote is being violated by forcing
residents to reach a 60% majority in order to exceed the tax cap and prevent massive cuts. Districts
are slashing the arts, sports and personnel. Large increases in class size are occurring and districts
are facing unfunded mandates that include excessive costs for testing.

How can we ensure that our public schools stay strong and properly funded?

How can a local community provide the educational programs it deems appropriate for its children?

Our fight continues June 8th with a rally in Albany.

Accept the TALI Challenge!

Take Action Long Island

Dear Members,

TALI week is rapidly approaching. 

Will you accept the TALI Challenge?

·      As an educator, participate in as many TALI activities as possible over TALI Week

·      Spread the word to others in our educational community

·      Increase our common voice in expressing concern to Albany

·      Visit http://www.takeactionli.org 

·      Scope out this video to gain perspective on TALI Week -> http://youtu.be/y_2Gl99KsmQ

Accept the TALI Challenge

TALI Week - April 29 – May 3

Public Educations at the Crossroads - May 1 - Be There!

Brothers and Sisters,

Has the New York State tax cap affected you at home and at school?

Have the continuous rounds of testing impacted you, your students, your children or grandchildren?

This is your opportunity to be represented in an open forum on these topics. 

Join us on Wednesday, May 1 as we provide Albany with insight on how we, as Long Islanders, have been severely shaken by these controversial decisions.  Hear educational policy analyst Diane Ravitch speak on timely subjects.  A moderated panel discussion on the topics of tax cap and testing will follow.  Audience participation in an active question and answer period will round out our event.

Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Time: 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Place: Crest Hollow Country Club, 8325 Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury

Want to learn more?  Go to Public Education at the Crossroads - Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Tickets are required for this event.  Ask your school’s building representative for more information about ticket reservations.

Now is the time to Take Action Long Island. 

In unity,

RVCTA Cabinet
Viri Pettersen     Lena Cobia     Lesli Deninno     Michael Maschio
Jenn Cino     Chris Figaro     Joanne Wojdylo     Chris D'Ambrosio

Public Education at the Crossroads

Brothers and Sisters,

Take Action Long Island (TALI) seeks to embrace all of our local teacher unions across Long Island.  Each local may have different issues specific to its own district, but a common theme that ties us together relates to problems with an unforgiving tax cap, coupled with significant increases in testing.  Please consider attendance at our May 1 event, "Public Education at the Crossroads."   If interested, please contact your building representative for details and ticket information.
In unity,
RVCTA Cabinet

Here's a short (less than a minute) about Public Education at the Crossroads. Public Education at the Crossroads - May 1, 2013 Join us: Public Education at the Crossroads, with Diane Ravitch, Keynote Speaker, followed by a moderated roundtable discussion on current educational issues specific to Long Island.  A Question and Answer period with the keynote speaker and the panel will also be held. p.s.: If the above video link does not work, the video is located at http://youtu.be/yoL1gV_OPiI .

Did You Know? Facts and Figures About Long Island, Part II

More: Did You Know?

Today’s Topic: Enrollment Shares are Important in computing aid.  Take a  look at these numbers!

Enrollment Shares on Long Island - 2012 – 2013:

Nassau          203,683 students     7.5% of total state
Suffolk           251,406 students     9.3% of total state
LI Total          455,089 students    16.8% of total state

• Currently, Nassau receives aid amounting to $4,099 per student.  If our aid share matched our enrollment share, the new amount per pupil would be $7,514 per child, amounting to an 83% increase.
• Key Terms for Your Understanding: Two basic aid categories supply state aid on Long Island:
  • Formula Aids – Driven by wealth and needs; Discretion is derived locally on how money is spent.
  • Expense Driven Aids (expenditure thresholds with strings attached on spending)
    • Categorical aid and grants – examples include textbook, software, hardware aids
    • Reimbursement aid – examples include building, transportation, BOCES and special education.
• Formula and Expense Driven Aids as a Percent of Total Aid:
  Of total aid received, Nassau receives 17.9% in formula aid and 82.1% in expense aids.  This means that 82% of the aid is tied to funding that is not discretionary.  If we incorporated Suffolk, Long Island would have 71.8% of funds tied to expense aids and 28.2% of funds attached to formula aids.  Note that this is not the case throughout the state.  Long Island’s aids’ receipts are severely imbalanced with the rest of the State!
• The Governor has distributed $550 million in state aid, but still retains roughly $300 million for use in “competitive grant funding,” not designated, but may possibly include:
  • Three grant programs outside of the normal course of funding schools
    • Pre-Kindergarten for high needs districts ($25 million)
    • Additional time to extend school day or school year (20 million)
    • Social and health benefits for schools (competitive) 

How Do We Get More State Aid to Long Island?

What You Can Do:

• Enlist Long Island’s nine senators' support through letter writing, phone calls and face-to-face conversations.  Tell them that we want more aid to match the quantity of students educated on Long Island.  12% is not enough when we educate 17% of the students.
• Participate in upcoming Board of Education meetings.
• Enroll in NYSUT’s MAC application to easily send faxes to your legislators.  NYSUT is 600,000 strong – We need to put a face on that number.

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Your voice is needed in assisting our communities, our students, our teachers. 

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Did You Know: Facts and Figures About Long Island

The facts and figures below were culled from the February 15, 2013 NCCSS Conference.  This is the first in a two-part piece, entitled, "Did You Know: Facts and Figures About Long Island."

Did You Know?

Long Island – The Numbers:

• Long Island hosts a population of 2,832,882.  If we were a state, Long Island would rank 33^rd between Kansas and Arkansas. 
• With 2,370 people per square mile, we would rank first in the country if we were a state.
• If Long Island were a state, we would be ranked first in the high school completion rate for public schools.
• We represent 17% of the student population in NYS
• On Long Island, there are 450,000 students out of 2.8 million statewide
• Over 20% of students on LI qualify for Free/Reduced lunch, proving that we have a diverse population.
• Long Island outperforms every other region in NYS on every measure
• Although it has been reported that New York is 37^th in the country’s high school completion rate, here are some facts for you:
• Washington Post “Challenge Index” indicated that 50 of 115 of high schools on Long Island were among the top schools in the country. These schools were in the top 8.0% out of 24,544 schools.
• Intel Competition - Long Island ranked first, with two students in the finals.
• Siemans Research Competition – If we were a state, we would be ranked third in the number of semifinalists.
• 197 Long Island students were on the 2012 National Merit Semifinalists list.
• Seven Long Island school districts won the “National AP District of the Year Award.”
• 54% of Long Island students earn a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation, vs. 38% for rest of New York State.

More Facts on Long Island’s Schools and Students:

• Over 40% of Long Island students are enrolled in districts that fall below the state wealth average (41.7%).  
• With regard to Long Island residents’ funding of educational services across the state, the Rockefeller Institute (2011) reported that “downstate suburbs” provide 27.4% of NYS receipts, yet only 17.7% of state expenditures are directed to our region. 
• LI schools enroll 17% of the students, but only get 12% of school state aid
• NYC receives $129 in new education aid per student
• NYS receives $119 in new education aid per student
• LI receives $66 in new education aid per student!
• A Long Island Education Coalition budget survey showed that over 3,000 jobs have been eliminated between 2010 and 2013.  Class sizes have increased on the Island.  In addition, career and technology classes and inter-scholastic programs have been reduced.

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Your voice is needed in assisting our communities, our students, our teachers. 

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Thoughts After Newtown

Dear RVCTA Member,

The Jewish festival of Sukkot is held each fall.  A predominant feature of Sukkot is the sukkah, constructed as a temporary outdoor structure, topped with branches and frequently decorated with harvest themes. At its most basic, the sukkah’s purpose is to remind us of the ephemeral nature of life.

The senseless slaughter at Newtown brings the fragile message of the sukkah to mind. As in our schools, Newtown students and staff arrived on Friday probably anticipating the upcoming holiday break, but what befell them that school day was tragically different.

In his speech on Friday, President Obama stated, "Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping children fulfill their dreams."  The heroic acts performed by the Sandy Hook staff members graphically depict the level of commitment that exists within all educators.

Teachers, teaching assistants or aides, secretaries, security or custodial engineers, nurses or administrators; we are all here for the same purpose – we serve as educators for the children in our community as they wend their way through life.  While we may or may not know the children or faculty from Newtown, we, too, serve as role models, family extensions, for our children and this is why this horrific event touches us in such an intimate manner.

Remember the sukkah and the thought that life is precious and each day is a gift.   Bless you, your families, the children in your schools, and, of course the families in Newtown, Connecticut.    As Monday approaches, you will be in our thoughts.

In unity,

RVCTA Cabinet

Viri Pettersen       Lena Cobia       Chris Figaro       Lesli Deninno

Michael Maschio       Joanne Wojdylo       Jenn Cino       Chris D’Ambrosio