Leveling the Playing Field for Local School Districts
There was a glimmer of good news for schools and taxpayers recently when Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak (D-Cheektowaga) announced the reallocation of almost $200 million from competitive grant money into the general school aid fund. This reallocation provides several area school districts with an additional $5.3 million in state aid:
$271,727 for Cheektowaga Central Schools
$516,137 for Maryvale Schools
$551,571 for Cheektowaga-Sloan Schools
$718,274 for Depew Schools
$585,215 for Cleveland Hill Schools
$2,656,760 for Lancaster Schools*
*Lancaster’s amount is significantly higher because it corrects an earlier flaw which resulted in insufficient transportation aid.
Speaking at JFK High School, where he was accompanied by Cheektowaga-Sloan Superintendent James Mazgajewski, Mr. Gabryszak also discussed legislation he is introducing (A.9486) that would include re-calculation of the wealth index used to determine school aid. The current formula disproportionately directs more aid to wealthier school districts, typically downstate, which results in residents of less wealthy districts, such as those in Erie County, left to with higher local property tax rates to make up the funding difference.
“Cuts in funding are leaving our school districts to operate on a bare minimum of resources and our students need to be able to compete with other schools in the area, as well as statewide,” Assemblyman Gabryszak said. “We cannot afford to cut teaching positions or sacrifice important programs. School districts must have the funding they need so our students may succeed.”
In addition, Assemblyman Gabryszak spoke of his efforts toward mandate relief, an area sorely neglected with legislators signed the property tax levy cap into law. While many mandates are well-intentioned, they come without funding behind them, leaving local property taxpayers to pick up the tab for leave time for breast and prostate cancer screenings, as well as paid employee leave and substitute costs for employee disciplinary proceedings that can stretch to well over a year or longer.
Posted on Monday, 16 April 2012 18:11
With Tax Levy Cap Ahead:
Where's the (Mandate) Relief?
More than 160 area school board members and school officials turned out at the Protocol Restaurant on Feb. 11 to hear members of the WNY Legislative Delegation address concerns about school funding shortfalls, funding inequities between wealthy and non-wealthy districts, and lack of mandate relief. "After three years of frozen Foundation Aid, last year's mid-year State Aid cut, the expiration of American Recovery & Reinvestment Act federal funds, and now the end of Education Jobs Funds and the implementation of the local tax levy limit, we have reached a point where we can't cut our way to a solution," said Jean Ranney, ECASB Legislative Team Leader. "We are only cutting our districts further into decline."
More than 160 area school board members and school officials turned out at the Protocol Restaurant on Feb. 11 to hear members of the WNY Legislative Delegation address concerns about school funding shortfalls, funding inequities between wealthy and non-wealthy districts, and lack of mandate relief. "After three years of frozen Foundation Aid, last year's mid-year State Aid cut, the expiration of American Recovery & Reinvestment Act federal funds, and now the end of Education Jobs Funds and the implementation of the local tax levy limit, we have reached a point where we can't cut our way to a solution," said Jean Ranney, ECASB Legislative Team Leader. "We are only cutting our districts further into decline."
Read more: With Tax Levy Cap Ahead:
Posted on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 13:03
ECASB Provides State-Mandated Training in June
The Erie County Association of School Boards is a New York State-approved provider for the two mandated six-hour trainings required of new school board members. ECASB will provide the Governance and Student Performance Accountability Training (GSPT) on Saturday, June 2nd, and the Fiscal Oversight and Responsibility Training (FORT) on Saturday, June 16. New school board members may register through their superintendent's office.
Property Tax Cap Without Mandate Relief: "This is gonna kill us ..."
A property tax cap, without accompanying mandate relief, will be lethal to area school districts, Erie County School Board members were told at the 2011 ECASB School Finance Academy. "You've got a gun pointed right at you," warned Mike Ford, "This is gonna kill us." Sharing data from the Statewide School Finance Consortium, Mr. Ford, who is Superintendent of central New York's Phelps-Clifton Springs School District, spoke to more then 60 area school board members at the program entitled, "The Storm is Here."
He noted that Erie County school districts are not high wealth. "At tops, you are average," he said, referring to Amherst and Williamsville. When state aid to schools was reduced, he said, wealthy districts (Long Island area) lost less than 5% aid, but less wealthy districts lost as much as 28%. "The poorest districts got clobbered last year by gap elimination," he said. "Look where your region was, you got hit very hard by that gap elimination." Less wealthy districts suffer most because state aid funds a much greater percentage of their budgets. Because more money is lost, local taxes go even higher in poorer districts asthey try to make up the gap.
The cost-drivers poised to gobble this year's reduced school revenues are pension obligations, health benefits and salaries, Mr. Ford said. Those costs will loom tall over the proposed 2% tax cap. "We created a system that was fully dependent on the good times," Mr. Ford said, pointing out that 3% of the pension contributions come from the employee, 11% from the employer, and 86% from investments. With the downslide of the investment market, costs are now up between 800-1200% across the employee retirement systems. Compounding the problem into a "perfect storm," is the elimination of the federal stimulus funds, and reduction of STAR aid, as well as further anticipated state aid reductions, and other cost increases.
For Erie County and neighboring school districts, the state's flawed Foundation Formula for aid also erodes its potential state revenue, he said. For example, in the "gap elimination" cut mid-year, Nassau County lost approximately $565 per pupil. His school district lost $1097 per pupil. Erie County lost $951 per pupil. Mr. Ford noted five flaws in the the formula:
- Poorer districts are seriously disadvantaged because the state's Income Wealth Index does not dip down far enough to reflect their actual poverty in comparison with other districts.
- The calculation intended to require a minimum local tax effort does not do so. It is circumvented because wealthier districts are allowed to select a "sharing ratio tier" which generates aid that was not even intended for wealthier districts.
- It is impossible for smaller districts to meet the formula for Administrative Efficiency Aid because they are too small to generate the required economy of scale.
- The current formula mutes the weight of Free and Reduced Lunch and Extra Ordinary Needs Student counts when determining state aid - so the poorer districts do not receive the aid needed to educate such children.
- The Regional Cost Index being used is too narrow and inappropriate, and pushes more money to the wealthier portion of the state. A better index, says SSFC, would be the Geographic cost of Education Index.
Mr. Ford noted that in downstate school districts, there is a different level of programming. He cited one district that has 27 music teachers. "We have six. And we're the same size," he said. "They have orchestra. We have string, but we use it to tie things up." The downstate taxes are higher, but they are higher by choice, he said. "There's a different level of programming that exists. When they claim the taxes are higher down there, they are high by choice. They choose to have these programs. When we get hit between the eyes with a two-by-four in the next two weeks with the state budget and you start seeing what you're getting and you'll start asking questions. We've got Kindergarten on the table: will we have it or not. Athletics will probably be cut very early in our process. I don't mean trimming, I mean eliminating. I'm talking about closing a middle school and moving kids to different buildings, and my guess is they might lose Portuguese and equestrian science."
In addition to Mr. Ford, attendees heard several speakers offer suggestions on how to help manage decreased revenues. Dr. Kate Foster, from the UB Regional Institute, spoke on consolidations and regionalization, and Jeffrey Swiatek, from Hodgson Russ, spoke on establishing school-municipal sharing agreements. Those in attendance also heard from Ron Mendrick, Harter, Secrest & Emery, on engaging employee groups in the quest for solutions; Andrew J. Freedman, from the Ferrara Firm, on implementing Response to Intervention to better help students and minimize long-term costs, and from Steven Wilson, Harris Beach, and Gary Carrel, Cornell Cooperative Extension, on how to "get something back" on energy costs.
After the presentations, attendees formed into work groups to brainstorm strategies for the upcoming year. This program was sponsored by the Ferrara Firm.
