FIRST IN INVESTING AND SECOND IN PERFORMANCE

Over the last few months there has been a great deal of mud slung at public education. I realize that an institution as large and long standing as public education is an easy target in many ways.

But there is one piece of information being stated by Governor Cuomo that bothers me more than any other. This is the claim that New York public Schools are "first in spending and thirty fourth in performance."

There is an old saying that states “if you say a lie often enough, it becomes the truth."

The Governor’s claim is based on faulty data and frankly, it’s untrue.

Below is an excerpt from a recent blog posting by Bob Lowry of the New York State Council of School Superintendents that quite convincingly contradicts Governor Cuomo’s claim.

“The claim that we are 34th in performance is based on a Census Bureau report finding that that in 2007, New York ranked 34th in the percentage of adults over age 25 with at least a high school diploma.

So the measure looks at the educational attainment of people who would have last been in school more than 10 years ago, in some cases decades before that, and in some cases people who attended school in other states or nations, or may not have attended school at all.

At best, the measure is like evaluating Governor Cuomo based on something that happened in George Pataki’s next to last term as Governor.

More generally, reality is more complicated than any one measure can convey.

New York is hugely diverse, in ways good and bad. One recent report concluded that we have the widest disparities in spending between high and low poverty districts.

New York is also home to some of the absolute best public schools in the nation. For example, nearly a third of the 300 national semi-finalists in the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search attend public high schools In New York State.

Education Week, the national newspaper of record in education, found New York to be a leader in several areas in its most recent annual “Quality Counts” report:

• Percentage of students passing Advanced Placement classes – 3rd
• Overall education policy and performance – 2nd
• Raising graduation rates – 4th
• Closing gap between low income and other students in 4th grade reading results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – 1st
• Closing gap in 8th grade mathematics on the NAEP – 1st”

I applaud Mr. Lowry on his recent blog and in an attempt to flip this lie on its head, I assert that New York State’s public schools are not first in spending and thirty fourth in performance, but rather we are --- FIRST IN INVESTING AND SECOND IN PERFORMANCE.

The attack on public education makes me remember a somewhat similar situation that happened with the space race back in the 60’s. The USSR beat the US into space and it was a big disappointment for many Americans. However, President Kennedy (and the country) did not cut the NASA budget or demonize the organization. He inspired them with a new vision and the pledge of support from the highest office in the land. Governor Cuomo, I suggest you learn from our late President.

I’d like to call on our Governor to take pride in New York’s public schools and our students and commit to the pursuit of being FIRST in the nation in performance. This is a goal we can all stand behind and work toward.

We want to be part of the solution!

A wise person once said, “You are either part of the solution or you are part of problem." In the spirit of this quote, the 47 superintendents in the Capital Region BOCES and Questar III BOCES have developed a legislative position paper.

The paper outlines ideas and changes that our state leaders should consider in what I hope will become a joint effort between public schools and the state to implement meaningful, long term reform in public education. Educators and state leaders need to participate in a meaningful dialogue on the issues and challenges facing public eduction in New York State instead of being at odds and viewing each other as adversaries in a battle in which there won't necessarily be a clear winner. The only certainty in a fight like the one going on right now over school funding is that in the end, our students are the ones who will lose.

Please click here to view the paper, and feel free to comment if you have thoughts or ideas that add to this important dialogue.