Good afternoon and thank you for having me here to testify.
As Public Advocate, part of my job is to stand up on behalf of all New Yorkers with a stake in the City’s public school system, especially the 1.1 million schoolchildren.
It is my job to point out that New York City schools lag behind schools in the rest of the state by a host of indicators:
We get $2,000 less in state aid per student than any other county in the state.
New York City 's median teacher salary is $736 less than the state average.
Our class sizes are significantly larger than the state average. In 1999-00, the average 8th grade English class in New York City had 27 students, compared to the state average of 22 students.
Our high school graduates receive Regent diplomas at a drastically lower rate than the rest of the state. Twenty-seven percent of our high school graduates earned a Regents diploma in 2000, while 49 percent did so elsewhere in the state.
The percentage of our fourth graders who got high scores on state aptitude tests is half that of other counties.
We have fewer computers and library books per school.
As Public Advocate, I am here today on behalf of New York City public school students, their parents, teachers, and advocates to say enough is enough.
In the case of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity versus the State of New York , the courts have made their final ruling: the State must give New York City its fair share of funding for education.
I think we can all agree that everyone with a stake in this process would be better off rolling up their sleeves and solving this problem together.
Independent studies are currently underway to determine how much “sound” City education will cost, and we’ll soon have the results.
It’s time for the Governor to stop dragging his heels, stop throwing up roadblocks, stop looking for a way out. It’s time to get to work.
The Governor has said that his Commission for Education Reform will come up with its funding formula in March—the same time he will release his budget.
The problem with this scenario should be obvious: the Governor will not have time to coordinate the proposed funding formula with his budget. It will be impossible for him to guarantee that the budget will cover the City’s needs.
Moreover, New York City and advocates for its schools will have no time to review the Governor’s funding formula and suggest changes before the budget is released. So any give-and-take between the City and State will force a delay in setting the budget.
This is an act of bad faith on the part of the Governor. He’s playing a political game while children’s futures hang in the balance.
What I’m calling for today is simple: the State, the City, and advocates for City schools should work together to come up with a plan that works and is fair to the people of New York City .
There should be ample time for discussion, debate and public hearings.
They should do it now, without further delay, before the courts do it for us.
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