Gov. Andrew Cuomo has endorsed a number of initiatives proposed by his education reform commission, on which I serve — including full-day prekindergarten, extended learning time, community schools for high-needs districts and more effective teacher recruitment.
What he didn't do is tell us, at least not in his State of the State speech earlier this month, is how to pay for these reforms.
The governor did indicate that at least some of these initiatives would be implemented through a competitive state grant program. Such an approach would, however, be totally inconsistent with the stirring statement at the end of his speech that we must "educate very child to their God-given ability."
If full-day pre-K, extended learning time and community schools are good ideas — and I very much agree that they are — these opportunities should be made available not to a handful of students in certain school districts, but to every child who could benefit from them, whatever their district.
There is an even more fundamental problem with the governor's education initiatives. Quality full-day pre-K programs can only be a boon if students then transition to quality kindergarten and elementary school classes. Extending schooling hours can only make sense if the hours students already spend in school meet their learning needs. The wraparound services provided by community schools help to close achievement gaps only if they supplement sound core educational services. Unfortunately, most of the schools serving students from low-income households currently lack adequate resources to meet even minimum state constitutional requirements.
A study released last month by the Campaign for Educational Equity analyzed the availability of basic educational resources in New York City and seven high-needs school districts around the state. It found that thousands of students in our sample — and almost certainly hundreds of thousands of students in schools like them — were being taught by inadequately trained and ineffective teachers. They were not receiving minimal instructional time in basic subjects, lacked access to numerous state-mandated courses, went without necessary books and technology, endured poorly maintained and even unsafe school environments, and did not receive the extra learning time and supports they are entitled to under state statutes and regulations.
We know the consequences. Too many of these students are not getting what they need to meet state learning standards, pass tests, and advance at grade level. Many drop out, and many who graduate are not college- or career-ready.
The judiciary has noticed. In 2003 and again in 2006, the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, held that students in New York City were being denied constitutionally adequate services. The state promised to spend the funds necessary to close these opportunity gaps. In response, the Legislature in 2007 committed the state to substantially increase funding not only for New York City but for all underfunded, high-need districts in the state.
Since the 2008 recession, however, the state has reneged on these commitments and has actually substantially reduced educational funding statewide, although the commitments to bring funding up to constitutionally adequate levels is still on the books.
Yes, I know that times are tough, but the governor has a constitutional duty not only to balance the budget but also to ensure that the opportunity for a sound, basic education is being provided to all students in the state.
Hard economic times call for bold steps to provide quality services in a more cost-efficient and cost-effective manner. In any event, the New York Constitution — and the state's competitive economic position — require that, whatever the state's fiscal constraints, our children's education cannot be shortchanged and constitutionally adequate services must be provided.
So far, neither the governor nor the commission that is supposed to be examining these issues has seriously confronted this educational funding crisis and the widening opportunity gaps it has created.
I hope that the governor's budget proposal and the commission's next report will propose bold and realistic measures to put our educational funding system and our children's learning opportunities back on a sound and sustainable course.
Michael A. Rebell is executive director of the Campaign for Educational Equity and a professor at Columbia University. He also is a member of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's New New York Education Reform Commission.