News from The Statewide School Finance Consortium<\/p>\n
Statements from:\u00a0Dr. Rick Timbs, Executive Director, SSFC, rtimbs@statewideonline.org:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Disappointed by the report and its recommendations:<\/p>\n \u201cThe report is underwhelming. It just falls so short. It\u2019s a loss of two years\u2019 time. There is nothing new here. We\u2019ve been hearing about these things for years. There are some nice ideas and suggestions for schools in the report, but nothing to help schools survive and thrive.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Where are the recommendations for education funding and aid?<\/p>\n \u201cThe Commission held hearings all over the state, but there wasn\u2019t a single hearing held to focus on equitable, adequate and sustainable education state aid funding and the need for reform.\u00a0These are difficult issues that need to be confronted and this is one of the reasons the Commission was formed. Instead, the Commission chose to avoid the most critical fiscal \u2018reform\u2019 issues faced by school districts, their students and taxpayers. It\u2019s an unfortunate, missed opportunity.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n We concur completely with the supplemental statements of Commission member Michael Rebell, Executive Director of the Campaign for Educational Equity (see Page 64). Rebell said:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI am particularly concerned that the commission has not even attempted to grapple with the serious education finance issues that have been undermining educational progress throughout the state since the Recession of 2008. \u2026 In neglecting to deal with these issues, the commission has ignored our specific charges to \u2018evaluate education funding, distribution of State aid, and operating costs \u2026’, and to \u2018examine the unique set of issues faced by high-need urban and rural school districts\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Convene a NEW Commission made up of education finance leaders:<\/p>\n \u201cWe call on the governor to convene a panel of public education finance experts to study the Foundation Aid formula and come up with recommendations for its overhaul – a commission similar to the \u2018Berger Commission,\u2019 which made recommendations for restructuring the hospital and nursing home system in New York State. This Commission and the political leadership in New York State are either unable or unwilling to grapple with and solve school funding issues. This must be addressed NOW.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n We Need to Achieve Fairness, Equity and a New State Aid Formula:<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to end the Gap Elimination Adjustment immediately and create a new Foundation Aid formula for 2015-16 that is equitable in its distribution, adequate in its funding and sustainable.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n