Question Priorities
DOE Spending Plan Target of Criticism

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

The Department of Education last week submitted an altered proposal for how to spend $258 million in state money, but it was not enough to quiet the critics.

The Chief-Leader/Eric Weiss 'HAVEN'T ADDRESSED MAIN ISSUE': Geri Palast, the executive director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, contends that the Department of Education's revised plan for spending additional state school aid hasn't done enough to ensure that more is spent on 'the highest-needs kids in the lowest-performing schools.'

Officials acquiesced to demands by Teachers, parents and education advocates to set goals for class-size reduction and give more detail on how much each school would receive. The new plan also included an additional $30 million to lower class size in the early grades. But while they praised elements of the plan, advocates said they were not convinced that enough of the money was going to the children who were supposed to be the target of the funding: high-needs students in low-performing schools. And they said the amount allocated for reducing class size was insufficient.

RANDI WEINGARTEN: Class size the key issue.

UFT 'Disappointed'

"The city could have said the $244 million in new [state] monies must be devoted to class-size reduction," said United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. "They didn't, and that's why we're so disappointed."

Ms. Weingarten noted, however, that she was pleased that the city set up a "transparent system for public tracking of class sizes." By Aug. 15, the DOE will submit school-by-school goals for class-size reduction for next year.

The state money is part of the result of a court ruling that determined that New York City schools had been underfunded for decades. A state law passed in the spring dictated that the money had to be spent on high-needs students, including those living in poverty, English Language Learners and special education students. Class-size reduction was one of five criteria that had to be funded with the earmarked money.

Mr. Klein said the updated proposal responded to requests in public hearings that specific spending plans be made public. "We do believe in trust, but we also verify," he said. "We will make available to all of you how exactly the money is being spent."

But most critics were not satisfied, including Geri D. Palast, executive director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, which brought the original lawsuit. "They've provided more detail and that's good, but in the end there are not a lot of substantive changes," she said. "The key, key issue is that money needs to go to the highest-needs kids in the lowest-performing schools, and we don't think that issue has been addressed."

Class-Size Aid Reduced

Another complaint from advocates was that only $66 million actually was being spent on class-size reduction, and not the $106 million being touted in the plan. The DOE has allocated $40 million for Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT), regarding it as a program that reduces class size, which many advocates do not. CTT, a method supported by many advocates and the UFT, combines general education and special education students in one class with two Teachers. Mr. Klein said the model would include one special education Teacher and one general education Teacher.

"They managed to take a very simple concept - smaller classes - and find a way to complicate it," said Noreen Connell, the executive director of the Educational Priorities Panel. "We have nothing against CTT - we championed it - but boy oh boy, this is not class-size reduction."

Mr. Klein defended the program as "powerfully and clearly" shrinking class size. "When you create such a class with two Teachers and 25 students in that class, there's no question you're lowering class size," he said. "I don't see how anyone could say that's not what's going on."

Another priority mandated by the state and supported by the UFT and education advocates is access to full-day pre-kindergarten, and about $300,000 of the $258 million is allocated for that purpose.

State Resistance

Mr. Klein and Mayor Bloomberg also back universal access to pre-k and had lobbied the state to allow them spend an additional $68 million in other state funding for full-day pre-k. But the state restricted the spending to half-day programs only, a 2-1/2-hour class which cannot be utilized by many working parents.

"All I ask for is to take that $68 million and spend it on full-day pre-k," said Mr. Klein. "For reasons that elude me, quite frankly, since the money's the same, it's not, in my opinion, a sensible use, and so I don't want to divert other contract monies." He added that the city would lobby for future pre-k funding to be flexible, and if it was not forthcoming next year, would look to develop a plan to increase pre-k access.

Ms. Palast said she would be speaking with state officials about further changes to the city's proposal, which is due for approval in mid-August. Ms. Weingarten said she planned to return to Albany next year to lobby for changes to the state law that dictates how the funds should be spent.

"Sadly, we're going to have to return to Albany next year," she said, "to fight for more restrictive regulations to ensure that state commitments to reduce class size and provide early childhood education are honored."

The city's proposal and the school-by-school spending details can be viewed at http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/ChildrenFirst/CFE/default.htm.