By Nicholas C. Fondacaro
Watchdog.com
June 17, 2015
As a parent, would you rather raise your kids in a state known for its iconic skyline, or a state that has become an education icon? Parents in New York have to make that choice.
The Center for Education Reform has released a report about school systems in all 50 states called The Parent Power Index (PPI). The index allows parents to see where their state ranks in terms of educational choice, transparency, and teacher quality. The report ranks New York at 18th place. The position could be worse, but it could also be better.
The PPI finds that New York is a mixed bag when it comes to education.
On the one hand, New York’s charter school law is something other states should emulate. The state has a “high-quality” authorization process made up of a many independent authorizers and “strong accountability.” This authorization system goes all the way up through their higher education system, the State University of New York (SUNY).
But the report also pointed out, “New York’s charter sector has received a lot of print as of late. But a recent lawsuit has pointed out some of the deficiencies in the Empire State’s law that despite its model actions in authorizing”
Last year, charter schools in New York City came under fire when Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to force charter schools out of the buildings they co-utilized with public schools. The New York Post reported:
“Fulfilling a campaign pledge to limit charter expansions within public-school buildings, de Blasio revoked approvals granted last year by the Bloomberg administration to two new Success Academy schools and to a third that planned to expand.”
But since then, the state government has come down on the side of the charter schools. Later that spring, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a budget bill that had provisions to protect charter schools in NYC. The city has two options when dealing with space for charter schools: “It can hand over free space in public or private buildings, or give the schools money to find their own space,” the New York Times reported.
The report also notes that around 50,000 families are still on waiting lists in NYC, because of an arbitrary cap on the amount of charter schools that are allowed to operate in the state (460). This is in contrast to Indiana–number 1 in the report–which has lifted all the caps on charter schools permitted in the state.
The report discusses how teacher quality is handled in New York. Forty percent of a teacher’s evaluation is based off of “objective evidence of student learning.” Teacher pay and compensation and seniority are also topics covered by the PPI:
Seniority, not performance, is considered during layoffs. Although New York teachers can receive compensation for working in high-need schools or subjects, the state does not support enhanced compensation for work experience, and districts are not discouraged from setting salary schedules based solely on seniority and advanced degrees.
Again, this is in contrast to Indiana. Performance is not only a reason for dismissal but it can be a factor when layoffs are considered. Decisions on a teacher’s tenure status can be decided on by performance.
New York’s record on transparency also received mixed reviews from the PPI. Similar to Indiana, the report praises the state’s customizable report cards (data on all the schools) for being user friendly and having “a wealth of information,” although the sheer amount of data can be “almost overwhelming.”
However, the PPI is critical of New York because it holds school board elections at odd times, April or May, as opposed to with other elections in November. Indiana on the other hand, holds 274 of its school board elections in November, “ensuring parents know when to cast their vote.”
The PPI is designed to give parents a comparative tool to see where their state ranks and how they can improve. Indiana may not the Empire State, but it is turning into a destination for all the right reasons.