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Consolidation would weaken the power of the teacher union on Long Island. It seems that the school boards are at best inept at negotiating. Why pay teachers so much on Long Island? I mean if the school board offered them nothing what are those teachers going to do? leave for NYC, I think not. Teachers on Long Island have got it made and they know it - they could be paid less than teachers in NYC and the number of applicants for Long Island teaching jobs would not decrease at all. What is needed is a single consolidated district to take on the teachers union.
I agree that school boards need to be more aggressive in negotiations. I would like to think outside the box and have the districts hire a professional negotiator to get an equitable contract. The money saved over 30 years of retirement per teacher will be astronomical compared to the expense of a negotiator. Even better, have all the districts pitch in to pay the 1 negotiator to get all the contracts done at once.
Secondly, make the Superintendent of Finance a non academic degree requirement. Since schools are now 100 million dollar a year budget corporations, make sure people have an MBA and corporate experience. Someone who isn't afraid to **** off some workers. Tie salary into commision on how much fat can really be pulled from the budget.
I still think I'd rather have the state negotiate the contract before consolidsating districts. Base the raise on what teachers in Syracuse are getting, then make it across the board for all of NYS.
IMO, try thinking outside the box first to cut expenses and raise revenue before giving up local control of your school.
Guarantee me that kids won't be bused into different areas to integrate the schools. Do you remember Yonkers and NYC doing it in the 70's? I was born in 1974 so I don't really know what you are talking about.
Guarantee me a SHARP decrease in property taxes that are maintained for a long period of time and we'll talk consolidation. Over 90% of the school budget is already set in stone in salaries and benefits and state mandates. Attack that first, set up a cap on the taxes, require more education for school boards and see what happens. I totally agree. .. consolidation is only 1 of the many changes that need to take place
Most LI schools give good performance. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Make changes in a prudent way. I'm not talking about performance of schools here.. we're talking crazy overinflated budgets and ridiculous taxes.. higher taxes DOESN'T equal better school performance.. and it shouldn't. But LI'rs seem to THINK it does.. again.. other SD across the country do it just as good for a lot less.
If you wanted your child to attend culturally and economically diverse school district, why did you buy in Levittown? Wouldn't Elmont have been a better choice, or as a realtor did you realize that the school district's performance would have made the house less desirable? there are several reasons why a person chooses a neighborhood. I would have choosen Levittown if the school had a more mixed race of people in it.. but i owuld have choosen the neighborhood based on other criteria. Yes.. I didn't want to live where I was the minority... I also chose it based on look and feel.. and convenience to where I needed to be. Also, I wasn't buying this hosue for long term because my plan has always been to move off LI.
Believe me, I hate paying taxes as much as the next guy, but I grew up in NYC with the BOE and it sucked. I have no experience with the BOE.. How about we put a renter's tax so the people in illegal apartments could finally contribute to our tax base? Have the districts be more aggressive in prosecuting people who sneak in from Queens using a relative's address. At 15K a kid, that will add up quickly. I dont' know about the queens families using relatives address... but as for illegal rentals.. I've said it on a nother posts.. getting rid of illegal renting is a problem on LI because there isn't enough legal rental housing to go around.. Most of the renters are NOT families.. but are young college grads, singles, etc... with the occassional single working mother or father who can not find an affordable legal rental on LI (although I've only come across that scenario once).
Try the changes out in the small East end districts that have like 100 kids in them and see how that works first before making such radical changes.
Well.. i'm for that. but then watch the "not in my backyard" attitude their too.. besides.. small scale change won't show what the effects will be.. all we know is this system is breaking the backs of hardworking Middle income LI families and needs to change before we all up and leave!
I grew up in NYC, what problems are you seeing or did see involving the BOE?
Between all of my families property tax in the city and there payroll tax and state tax they still pay less taxes combined then i do for property tax...
Consolidating the schools will lose all the many different unneeded supers and cars, and gas, and all kinds of bs they don't need..
There is no need for umpteen supers and asst sp, and there office with asst office personel and cars and bs...overcrowding...lose all those sups and personel and there are 2 more classrooms...
Will it make the tax burden go away....No, will it help, absolutely..
Going to payroll will make a big big dent in the problem... Yeah ask your elected officials about that one, wait till you here all the bs talk for why it can't...rather why it can.
As for busses, will it make bussing less... Every morning on my way to work i see nothing but moms and dads sitting on corners (a big dangerous issue with me*) with there cars running waiting for the bus...
WTH is wrong with these LAZY people, in the time it took you to drive down the block and wait you could have taken him/her to school in less time then you sat down the block waiting for the bus...wasting gas, and the bus wasting gas and money...
* Another issues is why are kids standing on Corners for the bus...
Where do accidents happen? in the middle of the block or at corners/intersections.....why are kids standing on corners in harms way..Busses stoping on 50mph roads in blind turns.. wth who is the mental patient running this bs
Your worried about consolidation... open your eyes people, there is so much plain stupidity out here it's damn scary.
Ever go down to 110 Livingston street in Brooklyn, headquaters of the BOE? You'll see more adminstrators than in all of LI. You'll see teachers getting paid to read newspapers because that is what happens when you lose local control over your school system.
I can't answer your question on buses, my town is in Nassau and we don't have roads with 50 mph speed limits on them. I do know the busses stop on the corner in my area because there are STOP signs at the corners, but my kids walk to school.
PS, NYC has better public transportation, city busses and subways, where the kids are able to ride on a reduced or free fare, thereby reducing the number of school busses needed. Basically, our toll money when we cross the bridges to get off LI is supplementing the MTA which is now subsidizing NYC's BOE. Too bad we don't have a reciprocal system where commuters could subsidize our schools. Maybe put a tax on every pumpkin sold on the East end, or better yet, a 10% Hampton Jittney surcharge to get the NYC folk going out to the Hamptons
Even better, have all the districts pitch in to pay the 1 negotiator to get all the contracts done at once. fopt65
This can't be done because of the fact that there are many different districts with different contracts that come up at different times for negotiations.
Here is another problem with Long Island school district negotiations. Teachers in one district will compare their salaries to neighboring districts and ack for the same or more - then the other districts will base their contracts on the precedents set in the other district. What you get is a continual upward spiral in salaries.
Again to emphasize my point. A consolidated county wide district would be able to negotiate with all the teachers at once. This gives the consolidated district to do just what you recommend.
Originally Posted by fopt65 View Post
Guarantee me that kids won't be bused into different areas to integrate the schools. Do you remember Yonkers and NYC doing it in the 70's?
Technically speaking bussing is an anachronism and is on its way out. I'm no legal scholar, but didn't the Supreme Court rule against using bussing, etc...to achieve a certian racial balance.
In any case the demographic transformation taking place on Long Island will make bussing a moot point anyway. Look at Nassau county, it has some 200,000 students k-12. I would bet that at least 40% are now Black/Hispanic/Asian/mixed/other and by 2020 that percentage will be more than half of all Nassau students. Already about half of Nassau's School Districts have over 25% non-White enrollment, maybe 10 to 15 are majority minority already, with many more to follow in the near future.
So trying to wall your kids off from other groups will not work anyway. Eventually they'll be in your school district also. When I was kid almost every school district was 90%+ White. Now only Massapequa, Bellmore-Merrick, Seaford, Wantagh, Plainedge, Bethpage, North Shore and Garden City are.
Change on Long Island is happening and I think it is better to get in front of the curve on this one and get a good system in place now rather than have a bad system imposed on us at some later date.
I will reiterate my main points again.
1. Consolidate all the 120+ districts into two county wide school districts.
2. Abolish the school property tax and replace it with a county graduated income tax.
3. Allow for vouchers so parents can choose other educational settings for their children.
Yes it does. You could not be more wrong on this one. If you ever worked in a school you would know this. Brighter and average performing students suffer from curriculums being slowed down for slower children, ESL students, pull out programs etc. Students who have troubles at home due to poverty, absentee parents, drug issues in the home, etc often have behavioral/developmental issues that bleed into the classroom. And if you think that administration and teachers can handle this without the education aspect being interrupted for the entire class, think again. Teachers and admin have their hands tied and often problem children who are acting out due to being hungry, lack of sleep, lack of discipline at home, disruption in family life, etc etc etc, will surely take away from a quality education.
I agree. I work in an inner city middle school, and while we have very bright, diligent kids who perform well, I know if any of them ended up in a better school/district, they would have a lot of catching up to do. They do well relative to the others kids in the school, but not necessarily to other kids across the state.
Every year, from kindergarten, I can guarantee that my students have had at least one serious troublemaker in the class whose antics caused his/her classmates to lose valuable learning time. The system's not set up and the kids and parents are really the ones with the power.
As for consolidation, I don't see it happening. Nassau County has had a history of fiscal mismanagement; I would not count on them to do this well, and it would have to be done well.
Technically speaking bussing is an anachronism and is on its way out. I'm no legal scholar, but didn't the Supreme Court rule against using bussing, etc...to achieve a certian racial balance.
In any case the demographic transformation taking place on Long Island will make bussing a moot point anyway. Look at Nassau county, it has some 200,000 students k-12. I would bet that at least 40% are now Black/Hispanic/Asian/mixed/other and by 2020 that percentage will be more than half of all Nassau students. Already about half of Nassau's School Districts have over 25% non-White enrollment, maybe 10 to 15 are majority minority already, with many more to follow in the near future.
So trying to wall your kids off from other groups will not work anyway. Eventually they'll be in your school district also. When I was kid almost every school district was 90%+ White. Now only Massapequa, Bellmore-Merrick, Seaford, Wantagh, Plainedge, Bethpage, North Shore and Garden City are.
Change on Long Island is happening and I think it is better to get in front of the curve on this one and get a good system in place now rather than have a bad system imposed on us at some later date.
I will reiterate my main points again.
1. Consolidate all the 120+ districts into two county wide school districts.
2. Abolish the school property tax and replace it with a county graduated income tax.
3. Allow for vouchers so parents can choose other educational settings for their children.
I'm not against this plan because I"m afraid of minorities being in my schools, nor am I trying to wall off my children. All I want is local control of my school district. I want to be able to vote on proposed changes in my school.
Show me where this CHANGE has been implemented,(don't use an area that was already set up as a county wide school system) and lets look at the pros and cons of it. How much money was saved? How did the schools rank against its peer groups pre and post change?
I like your 2nd and 3rd points, but they probably have as unrealistic chance of happening as my ideas, LOL
BTW You still have local elected representation on the board with the county system.
Henrico County Public Schools :: School Board (http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/schoolboards/schoolboards.html - broken link)
We have a ton of family in Virginia and recently our close friends moved to Chesterfield County. Just so everyone knows, they researched the schools in Midlothian and found they were far superior to many Long Island districts. This just goes to show that the idea of Long Island having the best education system could very well just be ignorance.
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