New York Public Schools Excel In Many Different Ways
By Jeffrey M. Bowen
The beginning of the new school year encourages everyone to
put their best educational foot forward. Our children experience excitement while their
parents often breathe a sigh of relief but want assurance that the quality of their
children’s learning will remain strong and uncompromised. Generally, community residents look for
evidence that their investment of tax revenue will yield the best possible
results. Fortunately, there is
convincing proof that New York’s public schools meet all of these expectations.
Governance and
accountability are good starting points. New York governs education mainly across two
related layers of control – state and local.
At the state level our legislature and the Board of Regents adopt laws
and regulations that arguably make New York the most educationally mandated
state in the nation. State aid to schools
amounts to some $25 billion annually, about a quarter of the state’s
budget. State revenue sources account
for 36 percent of all school district expenditures. Since policy follows the buck, it is
unsurprising that hundreds of earmarked policy requirements set performance
standards for local districts.
Local school boards represent
a second layer of accountability. They
must comply with a huge collection of legal requirements. Technically, a board must be authorized
specifically by law to act. According to
one statute, Section 1709 of education law, they are obliged to adopt a budget,
hire staff, develop curriculum, purchase textbooks, provide transportation and
maintain school facilities. Much of this
is delegated to the superintendent. What is more, except in large cities, local
residents can yea or nay a board adopted spending plan for which opportunity
for public input is mandated. In short,
New York’s educational governance system bristles with controls to assure that
certain operational standards will be met.
What sorts of exemplary programs and services showcase the
results of all these legal provisions? Here is a sample:
-- Our support for children with disabilities has far
exceeded federally mandated minimums for many decades; an average of 13 percent
are identified, and they account for about 30 percent of school district
spending.
-- A 2010 national study conducted by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported that we rank second among 47 states in
health education and creating healthy school environments.
-- Outside of cities, we mandate and heavily aid transportation
to and from school for all children who live more than two or three miles away,
including all nonpublic and charter school children.
-- Categorical state funding for prekindergarten enables
nearly 60 percent of our three and four-year-olds to participate, which puts
New York in the top five states nationally.
-- Since 1948 our state has offered shared cost effective
educational services through a current 37 regional boards of cooperative
educational services (BOCES) whose services cover career and technical
education, special education programs, and professional development for
district employees.
--Finally, all of our public school teachers must acquire
masters degrees to achieve certification, which then must be maintained annually
by professional development.
Some of the best news about NYS public school performance is
revealed by the combination of its many facets, as reported by Education Week this year. On average, two of every three 18- to 24-year-olds
are college students or graduates. Only
two others states do better. The
national average is 56 percent.
On indicators ranging
from chances of life success to achievement and finance, New York achieves a
grade of B- (79.8 on a scale of 100), and ranks ninth in the nation. The national average is C (74.2). New York has remained well within the top 10
states since the beginning of Education
Week profiles 20 years ago.
Several of our performance indicators are simply
outstanding. No other state comes close
to having required subject exams for high school graduation since the
1870s. Our high school graduation rate
stands at 78 percent. Although this is
only at the national average, our percentage improvement since 2012 has soared 17.5
percent, outpacing the average national change of 8.5 percent.
On Advanced Placement
tests, for every 100 students who participate, 37 scored three or better
(considered passing) in 2014. This
surpasses the national average of 29 per 100. Were it not for the alternative cost-saving arrangements
that encourage students to gain advanced (state) college credit without AP, our
participation rates would be higher.
New York invests vigorously in their public schools, as is
true for all public services. We spent
4.2 percent of our taxable resources on education as of 2014. The national
average was 3.3 percent. Most revealing,
however, is the extent to which we have applied these tax revenues to level the
learning field for all children. Given
the number of students involved, and the demographic diversity of the state, it
is astounding that we achieve a top national benchmark of B+ (88.7) compared to
the national average of C (73.9) on indexes that measure how well educational
expenditures and opportunities have been equalized.
Education is always a work in progress, and averages tell a
limited story, but as this school year begins, the vitality and scope of New
York’s public educational quality should reassure us that every New York
student who makes it here can definitely make it anywhere.
NOTE: A list of
sources may be obtained upon request.
