Tuesday, May 31, 2011
It's Not Easy
After skimming the political lineup in TIME this week, I've concluded that as hard as it is to be a Democrat this year, it's harder to be a Republican. I'm not sure that's comforting news, but it will have to do.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Reading List
I'm only on book 4 of this Swedish detective series, and already I'm sad that the author just completed the final volume.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Regents
I attended the annual CNYSBA dinner last night in Auburn, and one message that came through from speakers Charles Szuberla (Assistant Commissioner from State Ed)and Rick Timbs (Executive Director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium) was that we should be talking to the Regents as well as to our legislators. The implication was that the Regents didn't know what was going on at the grassroots level any more than the legislators did. (Rick Timbs asked, "What have your legislators done for you in the last two years? Well, why the heck are you so polite to them?")
Which got me wondering--who are those Regents that run education in the Empire State? I know that they're political appointees, and I know that they're unpaid, and I know that they wield a rather alarming amount of power.
Their website is actually pretty fascinating, especially the part about the history of school oversight in NYS. But the Regents themselves? They're high-powered and highly educated and fairly diverse (a gay man! a Puerto Rican woman!), and a handful of them have actually taught in public schools, but for the most part, they are pretty far removed from the down-and-dirty work of education--no more connected, really, than your average school board member, although they have more money and far more impressive degrees. One Regent remarks that he's the first Regent in 200 years to have visited every school district in his jurisdiction. That's probably true, but it's a little disturbing.
Due to lack of funds, NYS is getting rid of January Regents Exams and all Regents in foreign languages. Maybe it's time to think about rethinking the way we oversee education in this state. Does this relic of the 1700s still make sense today?
Which got me wondering--who are those Regents that run education in the Empire State? I know that they're political appointees, and I know that they're unpaid, and I know that they wield a rather alarming amount of power.
Their website is actually pretty fascinating, especially the part about the history of school oversight in NYS. But the Regents themselves? They're high-powered and highly educated and fairly diverse (a gay man! a Puerto Rican woman!), and a handful of them have actually taught in public schools, but for the most part, they are pretty far removed from the down-and-dirty work of education--no more connected, really, than your average school board member, although they have more money and far more impressive degrees. One Regent remarks that he's the first Regent in 200 years to have visited every school district in his jurisdiction. That's probably true, but it's a little disturbing.
Due to lack of funds, NYS is getting rid of January Regents Exams and all Regents in foreign languages. Maybe it's time to think about rethinking the way we oversee education in this state. Does this relic of the 1700s still make sense today?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tax Cap Gun to Our Heads, Part 3
Well, NYT editorials notwithstanding, it looks as though it's a done deal, complete with sunset clause (probably) and pension relief (sort of).
Just a couple of thoughts. In 2008, the Dryden School budget had a levy increase of under 1 percent. Do you suppose that will ever happen again? No, and why should it?
In NYS, counties are an arm of state government, designed to incorporate state programs with state funds, with a handful of discretionary programs of their own that they may or may not decide to administer (e.g., road patrols, bridge maintenance, youth programs, libraries). The "unfunded mandates" flap derives from the fact that over time, the state has paid less and less toward the state programs it requires the counties to provide (ditto for school programs, but that's another story). And now, the state has removed the counties' ability to raise those funds on their own--yet it has failed to recall even one of its many expensive mandates.
In other words, the pols in support claim that this tax cap is leverage to rein in spending, but the only spending counties or schools are actually allowed to rein in is that which deals with quality of life, not state requirements. Is a sheriff's department really an unnecessary extra? How about a jail or library? I guess we'll find out.
LATER: From the Dryden Courier, here's a related postscript that shows how the state manages to shoot down inventive costcutting methods:
Just a couple of thoughts. In 2008, the Dryden School budget had a levy increase of under 1 percent. Do you suppose that will ever happen again? No, and why should it?
In NYS, counties are an arm of state government, designed to incorporate state programs with state funds, with a handful of discretionary programs of their own that they may or may not decide to administer (e.g., road patrols, bridge maintenance, youth programs, libraries). The "unfunded mandates" flap derives from the fact that over time, the state has paid less and less toward the state programs it requires the counties to provide (ditto for school programs, but that's another story). And now, the state has removed the counties' ability to raise those funds on their own--yet it has failed to recall even one of its many expensive mandates.
In other words, the pols in support claim that this tax cap is leverage to rein in spending, but the only spending counties or schools are actually allowed to rein in is that which deals with quality of life, not state requirements. Is a sheriff's department really an unnecessary extra? How about a jail or library? I guess we'll find out.
LATER: From the Dryden Courier, here's a related postscript that shows how the state manages to shoot down inventive costcutting methods:
Around January, the state sent the [Dryden] district a letter that stated if the district continues to use volunteers to fill contractual positions then the district would be found as not fulfilling the contract and the state would file an improper labor practice lawsuit. The state as a “goodwill gesture” said they would strip out programs from the contract but they only stripped out those programs that haven’t run for the past five years. The district has formed an Ad-Hoc Co-Curricular Committee and what they can do is make a one year memorandum of agreement, or MOA, to include more recently funded activities such as ski club so that volunteers can fill those positions and the programs can still happen.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Hochul Beats Corwin
Was it about Medicare, really? Was it about outside money? Or whose lies were more believable? Or did it all come down to personality and preparation?
Whatever the reason Hochul won, this race will long be remembered (by me, anyway) as having spawned the Best Negative Ad ever--a perfect satirical rendition of Corwin's actual website.
Whatever the reason Hochul won, this race will long be remembered (by me, anyway) as having spawned the Best Negative Ad ever--a perfect satirical rendition of Corwin's actual website.
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