NY Commission
Recommends Expanding Alternative Teacher Certification Programs
On March 29, the New York Commission on Education Reform reported its
findings and recommendations to reform the state’s education system,
including expanding the alternative teacher certification programs.
Governor George E. Pataki created the commission to address the June
2003 Court
of Appeals ruling in a fiscal equity case brought against the state
in 1993. In addition to studying reforms to the education finance system
in New York State, the commission was also charged with reviewing
how
every school district can provide all children with a sound basic
education.
The report, “Ensuring Children an Opportunity for a Sound Basic
Education,” determined that “adequate resources must be coupled
with a strong accountability system that holds every member of the education
community fully accountable for performance.” Commission chairman,
Frank G. Zarb, reported that priority attention to system reforms would
be necessary, not just adding billions more to the existing system while
it gets worse.
To hold the education community fully accountable for performance,
the commission recommended that an independent Office of Educational
Accountability be established to develop more rigorous standards, oversee
the accountability process and monitor the improvement of poorly performing
schools. In addition, the commission’s report made a number of
specific recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature in the areas
of funding, accountability and authority, and standards. Among the recommendations
were the following:
•
Reduce the number of financial aid categories from 37 to 11 to
make the state’s school aid formula fair, sustainable and understandable.
•
Phase in over the next five years, a school funding system to strengthen
and simplify the system to “help school districts and their local
taxpayers better anticipate how much funding may be coming to schools
for the next year’s budget.”
•
Reform special education funding to eliminate any financial incentive
to place a student in a restrictive special education program.
•
Stabilize funding for pre-kindergarten programs.
•
Require all school board members to “receive training in their
roles and responsibilities.”
•
Continue “support for initiatives such as the Teachers of Tomorrow
program, the Mentor Teacher Intern program and the Teacher Center program.”
•
Expand “alternative teacher certification programs to increase
the pool of qualified teaching candidates.”
•
Allow “retired public employees, such as police officers and firefighters,
with appropriate qualifications and credentials, to teach, serve as security
officers, or hold other positions in public school districts while still
receiving their pension.”
•
Help underperforming teachers, while at the same time, accelerate
the process to discipline and/or remove tenured teachers.
At $39 billion, elementary and secondary education in New York
is big business. Although the reported costs of more than $11,000 per
student are not likely to include all per capita costs of public education
for New York students, it is more than most other states report spending.
The text of the report can be found at:
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/education/ny-zarbschoolreport,0,2104521.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-education
