Dear Editor,
Last week, the Amsterdam News published a story entitled, “Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget leaves Black and Brown communities out in the cold,” which was an inaccurate and misleading representation of the governor’s education policies and 2012 agenda.
The article misled readers with its representation of the governor’s education funding for this year. The article states that out of the total 4 percent increase Gov. Andrew Cuomo included in his executive budget, $805 million in education spending, “52 percent will be allocated to high-need school districts…and 31 percent to a new competitive grants program.”
This statement inaccurately assumes that high-need districts will receive none of the 31 percent, approximately $250 million, allocated for the competitive performance grants. However, under the governor’s program for competitive academic performance grants, high-need districts that show academic improvement are better positioned to be awarded grants because grants are given to districts that show the greatest improvement, which means lower-performing schools can more easily show a large percentage gain. On top of that, in the program, bonus points are given to school districts with high student needs.
But perhaps the most unfair and inflammatory part of this story was its title. According to the headline, readers are led to wrongly believe that the governor’s entire budget “leaves Black and Brown communities out in the cold” despite the fact that the story itself contains no actual evidence that any part of the governor’s budget or, more specifically, education policies will negatively impact communities of color. In reality, the governor’s agenda for this year includes a clear commitment to these communities. Put aside the competitive education grants, of Cuomo’s remaining portion of the 4 percent education spending increase, high-need school districts will receive 76 percent of the total formula-based increase.
Finally, it is important to note that when you look at the numbers, it’s clear that our current funding system, which prioritizes fueling the massive bureaucracy instead of student achievement, simply isn’t working. Right now, New York spends more per student than any other state in the nation, but we are 38th in terms of graduation rates. Cuomo’s education agenda uses a small portion of the 4 percent education funding increase he included in his budget to reward struggling districts that show they can help students improve, similar to the approach used by President Barack Obama in the Race to the Top initiative.
The purpose of this program is to encourage school districts to be innovative and generate new ideas that improve results for all of our students.
