Parent & Community Engagement Key to Success
(Long Island, NY) The Alliance for Quality Education and the New York State Parent Teacher Association along with members of the NYS Assembly called on the NYS Board of Regents to pay as much attention to the regulations they must enact regarding struggling schools as they have to teacher and principal evaluations.
The Regents are expected to enact regulations at the June 15 meeting of the Board even though the future of these schools has not received much public debate since being included in the state budget at the end of March. There are approximately 170 schools that will be immediately affected by the Regents regulations that will govern the implementation of the new law. About 25 of these schools are eligible for $75 million in new funding as a result of being classified in the law as “persistently failing.” The remaining schools are labeled by the state as “failing” and it is unclear at this time what funding will be available for them in the future. If the schools do not show adequate improvement then they can be taken over by the appointment of an independent receiver with the power to override decisions of the school board, prior to that time the local superintendent would have the same powers as the receiver.
Both AQE and NYS PTA are calling on the Regents to avoid publicly using the word “failing” when referring to these schools because it stigmatizes schools, students and families, and undermines school improvement. The press conference identified key priorities for the Regents to include in their regulations:
- Require robust parent and community engagement in the process of creating a turnaround plan and in implementing school reforms;
- Require an adequate planning process that includes comprehensive student and community needs assessment, particularly for schools that are eligible for funding, in order to ensure these schools have high quality plans;
- Clarify that the superintendent has both the obligations and the powers of the receiver in including the requirement to turn schools into community schools so long as funding for these programs is available;
- Require that the standard of improvement recognize the different starting points of each school and is based upon the school plan’s strategies to serve the social, emotional, health and family engagement needs of students as their academic needs.Require that the superintendent and receiver cannot use the powers of
- mass removal of current staff in these schools without first meeting clearly defined criteria, removal of staff should be seen as a last resort.
“Addressing the needs of our struggling schools will require careful planning, resources, time and above all meaningful collaboration between communities, families and their schools beginning with establishment of relationships that will endure and that at least initially define success in a variety of ways unique to each school community,” said Rick Longhurst, Executive Administrator of the New York State Parent Teacher Association.
“The Board of Regents must give as much attention to these struggling schools as they are to the teacher evaluations,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance of Quality Education. “They need to pass regulations that set these schools up for success, not for failure. Parents must have a strong voice in determining the future of their children’s schools and the schools must have high quality plans before any funding is awarded. The measure of progress in these schools must look at the whole needs of the students including their social, emotional and health needs, as well as the need for academic progress. All of this will be governed by Regents regulations and to date, these schools have not received the attention from the Regents that is needed.”
“The Assembly Majority conference was successful in allocating $75 million in this year’s state budget to invest in 27 struggling schools,” saidAssemblywoman Catherine Nolan and Chair of the Assembly Education Committee. “Our state must lead on this issue and I will continue to advocate for additional funds to ensure that every child receives a fair, basic education regardless of where they reside. I would urge the Board of Regents and the State Education Department to create and implement a viable plan for our struggling schools that all of our educational stakeholders including school districts, administrators, teachers, parents, students and residents can work with.”
“We have to prioritize our struggling schools,” said Assemblywoman Latrice Walker. “It is essential for the Board of Regents to develop a process to ensure that these students and schools are set up to succeed. It is essential to the health of our community that they get this right.”
“Children are our future and it’s essential that we invest in growing the future and ensuring our economic viability. Part of growing the future includes providing a quality education regardless of zip code and to help do that we need to build community schools engaging families and the surrounding communities,” said Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy. “I look forward to hearing more from the Board of Regents for Priority Schools to make sure a framework is created to give these schools the opportunity for turnaround and success.”
“The education of our children is one of my top priorities as a member of the Assembly,” said Assemblyman Harry Bronson. “Every year I fight for the funding needed so our children will have the resources they need to succeed, including a substantial increase this school year. I have met with and urged the Regents to ensure these funds are used for their intended purpose: to educate our children. It is my hope that Regents remember our children, their parents and the educators when drafting these new regulations for school improvement.”
“Local control of our public schools is critical to the success of our communities. Each community is different and each student has different needs and local input from our parents, teachers and students is key to improving and strengthening our schools,” said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara. “I’m so proud of the strong partnerships with the schools in my district, which was built with personal visits, participation at student events and interaction with our educators. The fight for public education is not over and I remain committed to building stronger communities with our local schools.”
