how state educational mandates impact our children, our community, our taxes …and our future!

Dragging Scarsdale Down?

Is NY State’s RTTT

How State Educational Mandates Impact

Our Children, Our Community, Our Taxes

…and Our Future!Race to the Top –The State Definition

A competitive educational grant program or ‘Race’ for states to win scarce Federal funds by improving student achievement, improving high school graduation rates and ensuring college and career readiness for all through:

• More “rigorous” common core educational standards• Performance-based standards (Annual Professional &

Performance Reviews- APPR) for teachers and principals• Building data systems that measure student growth &

success• Turning around lowest-achieving schools• More charter schools



Program Overview

Why We Live Here

Losing Local Control

Impact on Cost

Impact on Education Quality

What has been done

How you can Participate



Chancellor Meryl TischCommissioner John King

State educational leadership isn’t listening to our concerns



Why I live here.

So do great districts. We are self-reflective and responsive.Our district is constantly taking stock,

in an upward spiral –

“Great teachers constantly reevaluate what they are doing.”

-- Steven Farr, TFA



Scarsdale Approach

“Doing Better

Assessing, Gathering

inputEvaluating,

Training

Identify an Idea and Try



ENRICHED LEARNING



What’s your spiral?



International Metrics In Perspective

US Schools with less than 10% poverty* scored #1 in the world on all areas of PISA! (*just like schools in Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Germany {10.9%}) -- Tienken & Orlich: The School Reform Landscape

“If Scarsdale had been a country it would have outscored all others, including Finland, which was #1 that year.” – Lynne Shain (from 2007 scores)



Scarsdale is the 5th most educated town in the nation. The top 4 are all college towns.

In 2013, 64% of SHS seniors were accepted into the top 60 ‘most competitive’ colleges (Barron’s ranked).Highest percentage in 10 years of record keeping, even as college acceptance grows more competitive.

SMS has over 25 Inter-disciplinary projects underway across all grades and houses in many subject areas.

Student survey reveals high percentage felt prepared by k-8 for SHS and prepared for college by SHS..

Elementary Social Studies and Science curriculums are inquiry based providing child-driven experiential learning with 2-6 extended hands-on programs per unit.



Scarsdale Values

history of School

Excellence since 1920s

Local Control

School Board,

Administration and

Community Input

Quality Reputation

High Standards

Strong Property Values

Excellent Outcomes



We have something to protect.

STATETAX LEVY

LIMIT LAW

(“TAX CAP”)

Unfunded & Underfunded

Federal & StateMandates

NCLB&

RTTT

APPR

StateTesting

StudentData

Privacy

Common CoreStandards

New Federal/State Control Over Local School Decisions

BUDGET

INSTRUCTION

CURRICULUM

PERSONNEL

ADMINISTRATION



95%

4%1%State Aid Other

Our Dollars

= Our Schools

$

Scarsdale Taxpayers =



Will the “Cap” Effect Scarsdale’s Property Values?

Tax Levy Limit

‘2% Tax Cap’ is a Misnomer

Tax Levy Limit + Increasing Unfunded State Mandates +

Decreasing State Aid

NYS Districts< 2% Levy-95 Dis-tricts= 2% Levy-5 Dis-tricts > 2% Levy-575 Dis-tricts

In 2013/14 of the Nearly 700 School Districts in NYS



Will the “Cap” Affect Scarsdale’s Property Values?

Tax Levy Limit + Increasing Unfunded State Mandates +

Decreasing State Aid Calculates cap using a flawed benchmark, since CPI is NOT based on educational cost



Tax Levy Limits + Increasing Unfunded State Mandates +

Decreasing State Aid



Direct Costs:Salaries and benefits $ 450,000Test development

130,000Test administration

200,000Software & support

100,000APPR & other training

40,000 $ 920,000

Indirect Costs:Teacher time devoted to testing,

Data collection & reporting $ 1,600,000

Total Direct & Indirect Costs $ 2,520,000

Annual Costs of Mandated Testing, Teacher Evaluations & Data Reporting Scarsdale



Tax Levy Cap + Increasing Unfunded State Mandates +

Decreasing State Aid Trends in NY State Education Aid:

Most state aid was frozen in 2009-2010 Total state aid to schools was cut in both 2010-11 and 2011-12Despite increases in aid in the 2012-13 and 2013-14, over 70% of NYS districts are receiving less state aid than 5 years ago

Scarsdale’s 2007-8 State Aid

Scarsdale’s 2013-14 State Aid

$7.1 million $5.8 million ( 18%)



THE FINANCIAL PRICE:

Tax Levy Cap + Increasing Unfunded State Mandates +

Decreasing State Aid=



A high-stakes standardized test is a test with serious consequences for the students, educators, schools and districts.

Hey, Tortoise, where are we racing?No idea, Hare, but I gotta finish this test!

High Stakes Testing



Impact on Instruction of our Kids - Testing

Student Time Sitting For Test3rd GRADE LOST TO TESTING: 7 Hours

5th GRADE LOST TO TESTING: 9 Hours

8th GRADE LOST TO TESTING: 13 - 16.5 Hours (with Regents)

And Don’t forget…

Prep Time

Teacher Time Spent Grading Tests



Impact of Instruction of our Kids - APPR

Wasted Administrator TimeAnnual Professional Performance Review

APPR takes a lot more time! And takes away Discretion



State Test Equation

20%

District Test20%

Class Observa-tion31%

Professionalism7%

Planning and Prep7%

Classroom Envi-ronment

7%

Instruction7%

100% Teacher Scores

Impact of Instruction of our Kids - APPR



Impact on Curriculum – Standards vs. Standardization

Common CoreUnder RTTT, High-Stakes Tests linked to Common Core Curriculum

NYS Rapid, Unsupported Roll-out with poorly designed modules and no time for teacher development or curriculum integration

Standards are welcome, but…

One size instruction does NOT fit all. ?



Impact on Curriculum – NYSPTA Campaign Core

Value input from parents Order a one-year delay Implement first, test second Create improved, flexible testing Expand professional development



HIGHER-ORDER

COGNITIVE

INTER-PERSONAL

SELF-DISCIPLINE

PASSION

PERSISTENCE

CRITICAL THINKING

COMPLEXPROBLEMSOLVING

CREATIVITYNON-COGNITIVE

RESILIENCECOLLABORATION

PURPOSE

21st Century Skills



Who Pays for and Profits from Public Education Reforms?

GATESTest Prep SOFTWAREPEARSON

Charter schools INVESTORS



What is Scarsdale Doing?

DeclarationOf

Intellectual

Independence

PTC Advocacy and Legislative Issue Website Link



What Others Are Doing

NATIONAL RESOLUTION ON

HIGH-STAKES TESTING

End Corporate Education Reform



Know

Think

Act

how state educational mandates impact our children, our community, our taxes …and our future!

Documents

scarsdale schools

ny state parents

onslaught of state

state motives

state governments

current state practices

concernsdragging scarsdale

model schools