Brian L. Gottlieb

FAIR STUDENT FUNDING: ANYTHING BUT FAIR TO OUR SCHOOLS

by Brian L. Gotlieb

On January 17, 2007 Mayor Bloomberg announced the second major reorganization of New York City’s public school system since he took control of it. According to Mayor Bloomberg, this reorganization would overhaul the school budgeting system to allocate school funds strictly on a “per-student” basis so as to equalize funding for each student, enhance accountability, and reduce a complicated system of funding for schools to a simple one that follows a student throughout his or her educational career. Slated to take effect as of July 1, 2007, the Administration called its new funding formula Fair Student Funding (FSF).

According to the DOE, FSF will be phased in over the next two years and will “direct new funds toward schools that do not receive their fair share of resources today, without taking funds away from other schools.” Any school that receives a higher level of funding under the old formula will continue to receive that amount through the 2008-09 school year. In these instances, schools will be “held harmless” for the difference between its original funding level and what it would receive under FSF. Given these claims, I conducted a study to see how District 21’s schools would fare in terms of the funding they received under the old formula as opposed to FSF. Twenty-three schools, including each intermediate school, have a portion of their funding designated as “held harmless.” In total, District 21's schools have $10.2 million designated as “held harmless.”

Read about Brian's event to help explain Fair Student Funding

The DOE has yet to explain what will happen to these funds once FSF is fully implemented. When District 21's funding under the old formula is compared with what it would receive under FSF, District 21 loses a net total of $3,769,089. Although District 21's high schools receive a net increase of $863,560 (likely due to the creation of new high schools), the District’s public and intermediate schools see net losses of $2,481,676 and $2,150,973 respectively.

FSF locks the DOE into a rigid funding formula that discourages teacher retention and encourages increased class size; limits responsiveness to changing costs and the special needs of populations; and causes hardship to many schools, including those serving poor populations. With school assessments now keyed to standardized testing, principals face increasing pressures to direct these unrestricted funds toward testable learning rather than diversified subject matter. The new system of grading schools relies heavily on quantitative measures and fails to capture the unique qualities that make for rich and varied learning experiences within our schools. I also question the wisdom of putting schools in a position where they will be forced to compete for students who will bring in additional funds. While some believe that principals are becoming managers of their support organizations and overseers of a complex new system of tests and accounting practices to measure progress under the new system, I believe that it removes them from their main mission as instructional leaders. The fact that this process of “school reform” has largely taken place in secrecy, with little or no consultation with parents, teachers, administrators, or public officials is also of major concern. Those who oppose change are derided by Mayor Bloomberg and the DOE as “special interests,” while claiming an alleged “disinterest” – they have nothing personal at stake – as the reason we should follow their lead without question. Despite claims that he wants parents to be actively involved, Mayor Bloomberg’s policies actually seek to limit parental involvement to being guarantors of accountability rather than active advocates on behalf of their children.

FSF serves to redistribute resources rather than answer how we can give every child a quality education. As the DOE has yet to provide any answer as to what will happen to the $10.2 million in “hold harmless” funding once FSF is fully implemented, District 21’s schools remain in danger of losing their best teachers and the ability to create and expand specialized programs that will provide our community’s children with what has widely been regarded as the best education available in New York City. “Children First” must be more than a slogan. Our children are more than beans to be counted by bean counters and statistics to be manipulated by statisticians. As DOE actively promotes FSF’s “benefits,” it refuses to disclose what will happen to the funding of schools who receive a higher level of funding under the old formula after the 2008-2009 school year. Rather than address these concerns, the DOE seems content to look through its rose colored glasses and ignore the harm that will be caused to District 21’s students. For more information, please call me at 718-996-5668 or email briangotlieb@aol.com.