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COMMENTARY
(4/15/2011)
Help build a new barn
Collaboration between state and schools needed to create real
change
by
Dr. Patrick Michel,
HFM BOCES District Superintendent
 There
is a saying in rural upstate New York that I have heard several
times now: “Any idiot can tear a barn down, but it takes a
community to build one.”
Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy, in a commentary published in
the Times Union, has accused school districts of inefficiency
and poor management, downplaying the impact of a $1.27 billion
cut in state aid for schools.
Use up your reserves and spend your federal jobs money, Mr.
Duffy tells school districts, and the kids will be fine. Schools
will hardly notice the millions withheld from them.
Mr. Duffy points out some incriminating statistics concerning
public education in New York State. They bear repeating, “In the
past 15 years, student enrollment had dropped by 4 percent,
costs have increased by 120 percent, the number of teachers have
increased by 9 percent and supervisory staff has increased an
amazing 30 percent.”
His bottom line is that despite all of these cost increases, we
have not seen student achievement improve to a level that
justifies the expense.
There is merit to this argument. However, we should recall why
all of those increases have occurred. Many of us remember the
implementation of No Child Left Behind. We also need to
recognize that New York State has 50 percent more special
education regulations than the federal government requires. The
regulatory and reporting structure put in place by these state
and federal mandates drove the very spending increases the
Lieutenant Governor points out.
We could continue to play the blame game and argue with the
Lieutenant Governor over the correct interpretation of census
figures and actual cuts in state aid imposed on our schools, but
we will have missed the point. Public education in New York
State needs deep, systemic change. If we are truly committed to
fiscal efficiency and improved student achievement we need to
talk about real solutions and stop trying to bully people into
submission.
Let’s start with consolidation. It makes sense and should be
done. The problem is that there are regulatory and statutory
blockades impeding the process. In order to surmount these we
need changes in the law, and that means building consent with
the same powerful interest groups against whom the Cuomo
administration rails. Railing against something is one thing,
having the fortitude to work with people in the common cause of
real change that benefits children is another.
Many of us in public education would gladly participate on a
statewide advisory committee to help shape a clear vision for
New York State public education. We would be more then willing
to act as a regional incubator to demonstrate the improvements
in student achievement that are possible by loosening the very
regulatory and statutory structures that created the system the
Lieutenant Governor is criticizing.
We invite the Cuomo administration to work with us to “maximize
achievement in education for the student and efficiency in
government for the taxpayer.” There are willing partners in
education ready to make the changes the administration wants; we
need a willing partner in state government working with us to
make those changes a reality.
Tearing the barn down may seem like a good idea, but eventually
you need some place to keep the tools and house the livestock.
Right now, we are all standing out in the storm. |
