Current Issues for ECASB

Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely.
-Thomas B. Macauly

Issues!

Here are the current ECASB Legislative Position Statements. Issues addressed at the 2010 ECASB Legislative Breakfast are covered in this document: Let's FREEZE new mandates and ROLL BACK others.

Why A Tax Cap
Is Not the Answer

A tax cap does not reduce mandates, or costs over which districts have no control. Click here for ECASB's position on why a tax cap is not the answer to high property taxes. More information is below, from the testimony of area school board members and superintendents at the Oct. 30, 2008 NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief Hearing in Buffalo.

ECASB Points of Agreement:
David Smaczniak, ECASB Executive Board Member and NYSSBA Area 1 Representative

Special Education: James Bodziak, East Aurora School Superintendent

Mandate Relief: James P. Mazgajewski, Cheektowaga-Sloan School Superintendent

NYS School Boards Report on Maximizing School District Resources: Wayne Schlifke, NYSSBA President

 

Federal Relations Network Effort Highlights the Need for NCLB Improvements

Several ECASB members traveled to Washington, D.C., for Federal Relations Network (FRN) activities in our nation’s capitol. Highlights of the National School Boards Association program included a presentation from Representative Don Young, Alaska, whose No Child Left Behind Improvement Act proposal outlines a 40-some point plan for rectifying several problematic aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Among the NSBA legislative priorities carried by the FRN team for discussion with our representatives in Washington were:

- Support of NSBA’s comprehensive proposal to improve NCLB by securing co-sponsors for the No Child Left Behind Improvement Act introduced by Rep. Don Young (R-AK-At Large). This bill has bi-partisan support and includes many provisions to grant more flexibility to the states.

- A special focus on placing Title 1 (NCLB’s main funding source) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act on the path to fully funding the federal share.

- Strengthening teacher quality nationally by adding common sense flexibility to NCLB’s Highly Qualified Teacher requirements.

- Improving early childhood education through creation of a new, voluntary preschool program that school districts and parents could opt to participate in, and by reauthorizing Head Start.

For more information and details on these important initiatives, please go to www.nsba.org.

Other Topics of Interest

Excellence in Education

• Read the report of the NYS Regents task force on teaching

 

Food Allergies

• Food Allergy Network Resource for both districts and parents on dealing with food related allergies
• American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) Includes resources such as position papers on topics such as "Anaphylaxis in schools and other child care settings"

Regionalism

• Read the "Final" Report. of the Who Does What Commission. Page contains downloadable versions of the full and summary reports.

 

School Safety

• Keep Schools Safe Web site established by the NASB and the NAAG (National Association of Attorneys General).Basic Information on a variety of School Safety issues
• Keeping Schools and Communities Safe Department of Education site; contains a wide variety of resources ranging from public statements, statistics, funding and publications.
• Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools This guide was developed by: U.S. Department of Education, U. S. Department of Justice and the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, and the Center for Mental Health Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Division of Violence Prevention Site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Includes statistics on violence in the US and links to several CDC managed violence intervention projects
• Warning Signs Publication of the American Psychological Association describing warning signs for teen violence

 

Taxation

• Campaign for Fiscal Equity This group has filed suit, charging that the funding structure in NY is inherently unfair. Similar suits in other states have radically changed the funding structure for education. Because of the profound impact this has the potential to have on education funding ECASB has been involved in facilitating public hearings in the WNY area. To find out more about this issue, click on the CFE web site

 

Vouchers/Charter Schools

• UCLA Report on Charter Schools This is a link to a pdf file of the recent UCLA report on California charter schools. A fairly objective report, it provides constructive criticism of the current California Charter school system
• Official position statement of NYSSBA
• Senate Charter School Bill This link is through the NYSSBA site... legislation can also be reached at the Senate web page