|
|
Study: Mismatch between school spending and needs
|
February 04, 2009 | 05:08 PM
A year-long study by the Long Island Index has found that the region's educational structure, characterized by a large number of small districts, suffers from inefficiency and inflexibility, and a mismatch between school resources and student needs. Among the anomalies the Index reports, in districts where student needs are greatest, per-pupil spending is the least. By contrast, in districts where large sums are spent, academic achievement is no higher than in mid-range schools. The current structure also limits the region's flexibility in terms of improving racial and ethnic diversity, providing programs for the gifted and talented, and addressing the needs of children with limited English, according to the study.
The Rauch Foundation released Long Island's sixth indicators report, the Long Island Index 2009, on Friday, Jan. 30. Presenting the report and answering questions were Nancy Rauch Douzinas, president of the nonprofit Rauch Foundation, Ann Golob, director of the Long Island Index, funded by the foundation, John Jackson, president of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, and county executives Steve Levy of Suffolk and Tom Suozzi of Nassau.
Also contributing to the report were Hofstra University, which completed a statistical analysis of the relationships between disparities in educational resources, challenges, and outcomes; the Fiscal Policy Institute in Albany studied the impact of New York State's complex and shifting formulas for educational funding; and the Survey Center at Stony Brook University polled Long Islanders on their opinions about our education system and their attitudes toward proposed reforms.
LI Index Director Golob said this was the first study to systematically look at Long Island from the dual perspectives of how and where we spend our money compared to overall academic achievement. "We didn't always find what we expected," said Golob.
Findings confirm that Long Islanders are not well aware of the scope of school problems in the region and more education is needed to inform residents about how students are separated into poorer and wealthier districts and the resulting academic outcomes. However, 79 percent of Long Islanders agree that children who attend schools with a mix of students from different ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds are more prepared for college and the workplace than children who attend segregated schools.
According to Douzinas, "Long Island's future depends on rebuilding its economic engine. Education is a critical component of that equation. We need to use this data to find more opportunities to seed change rather than accept what has always been."
Jackson from the Schott Foundation, and former member of the Obama-Biden transition team, said, "According to OECD data, to remain globally competitive, the U.S. will need to have 60 percent of its citizens possess a college degree or postsecondary credential by 2025. That is more than 16 million additional college-educated workers." He said the only way to meet this need is to provide a substantive opportunity to learn for all students.
Although Long Island has a long history of rejecting proposals for change, the Index survey found substantial support for many new options that would address the key issues facing Long Islanders. For example:
• 73 percent of Long Islanders favor pooling commercial property taxes and distributing them equally across the school districts;
• 66 percent support a magnet school to provide in-depth instruction in science, mathematics or the arts;
• 67 percent favor offering a limited number of children in failing school districts the chance to attend better schools in nearby districts where space is available; and,
• 61 percent support creating housing for lower-income families in middle class and wealthier neighborhoods.
Some examples from other parts of the country cited in the Index study include:
Creation of Vermont's State Education Fund that removed the inequities in funding between rich and poor school districts;
Minnesota's "Fiscal Disparities Act" that pooled commercial taxes across seven counties;
One-county school districts, such as Fairfax and Loudoun counties, in Northern Virginia, that have greater resources available to address local problems; and,
Seven regions of the country have developed voluntary inter-district transfer programs that allow students from urban districts with high poverty to attend schools in neighboring suburban districts where poverty levels are much lower.
Downloadable copies of the Long Island Index 2009 are available at www.longislandindex.org. Also, key education data from the 2009 study on school district size, finances, obstacles, and affluence plus school locations and links to the State Education Department report cards were added to the interactive mapping feature at the same website.
In addition to the education statistics, information has been added to the map concerning brownfields, showing the locations of 278 brownfield sites plus information for each on clean-up expenditures, and child care programs, showing the location and details of each. More findings:
GOVERNANCE
Long Island relies more heavily on property taxes as a percentage of total revenues than the rest of NYS and property taxes have increased 20 percent in 10 years but only 6 percent statewide.
ECONOMY
Long Island's economy is not faring well in comparison to the U.S. as a whole. Annual growth in GDP was less on Long Island than the U.S.
Average annual pay per employee was on the downswing in 2008 and is now on par with the United States as a whole. Ten years ago, LIers earned more than the U.S. average. In inflation adjusted dollars, LI's average pay per employee was $834 lower in 2008 than it was in 1999.
OUR COMMUNITIES
Revised Census data shows 4 percent population growth in Nassau and Suffolk over the past eight years compared to previous estimates that showed virtually no growth.
Long Island continues to become more racially and culturally diverse but still lags the U.S. overall.
High-cost loans account for 24 percent of all mortgages between 2004 and 2007. Blacks and Latinos received the majority of these types of loans.
OUR ENVIRONMENT
Land preservation goals are still not being met but the number of acres preserved improved slightly.
Long Island's electricity and natural gas consumption keeps growing as well as our carbon emissions.
HEALTH & EDUCATION
Only 45 percent of LI's children under the age of six are in a formal, regulated child care program. Of those families using licensed child care programs, 76 percent pay more than the recommended 10 percent of their household income on that care.
| |
|
|
|
| |
Copyright 2010
(631) 751-7744 | news@tbrnewspapers.com | www.northshoreoflongisland.com | About |
|
| |
|
