School Executive's Bulletin

Fall 2007

News from the Senior Deputy Commissioner

Contents

News from the Senior Deputy Commissioner

Board of Regents Actions

Decisions of the Commissioner of Education

Who to contact

The School Executive's Bulletin is a publication of the New York State Education Department.  Please submit comments and suggestions to the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education at p16education@mail.nysed.gov

Since the start of the 2007-08 school year, I have had the opportunity to meet with many of you both one-on-one or at a number of meetings around the State and a number of events including regular meetings of the District Superintendents; the school board members advisory council meeting; the School Administrators Association of New York State advisory council meeting; the New York State Council of School Superintendents new Superintendents conference and advisory council meeting; a recent meeting of the New York State Council of Educational Associations; visits to regional school districts and BOCES; the New York State United Teachers Ending the Gap symposium; the New York State School Boards Association convention; College Board’s national forum; the Middle Level Schools Association conference; the Long Island Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development fall conference; Board of Regents regional education leadership forums; and in many other venues.  It has been a pleasure to speak with you and to learn more about your important work.

In our conversations, we have discussed opportunities for strengthening collaborations across the Pre-Kindergarten through college (P-16) continuum to help more students graduate from high school prepared for college and the workforce.  We have also talked about ways in which the State Education Department can better help you with the work that you do to help students to succeed and graduate.   I want to thank those of you who have shared with me so many wonderful ideas for how we can work together to close achievement gaps and to provide all of our State’s students with high quality educational experiences.  If you have not yet have an opportunity to share your ideas and feedback, please do so by completing our online “Service Satisfaction Survey” at http://www.forms.nysed.gov/emsc/satisfaction-survey.htm.

I also wanted to take an opportunity to share with you the some of the latest news and developments from the Board of Regents and the State Education Department, as well as provide you with an update on work underway to implement the Board of Regents P-16 Education Action Plan and Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2007 (the 2007-08 State Budget). 

• In the “Regents Actions” section of this Bulletin, you will see the Board of Regents 2008-09 budget priorities.  The bold new initiatives that the Regents have proposed this year take maximize the strong partnerships that exist across the State among Pre-K-12 schools, colleges and universities, cultural institutions, libraries, community organizations, the licensed professions, the business community, and others to transform the delivery of educational services and close the achievement gap.  We have shared these priorities with the Executive as part of the State budget development process and look forward to working with the Executive, the Legislature, and other partners, over the next several months to advance these important initiatives.
• For 2008-09, the Board of Regents has proposed increasing total State Aid by $1.94 billion to provide adequate support to students who need it most and to raise achievement for all students across New York State. The Regents State Aid proposal would increase Foundation Aid to schools by $1.8 billion.  The Regents also propose increasing the number of proven Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs through $6 million in Challenge Grants, expanding Universal Pre-K by $104 million to $535 million and expanding support for English Language Learners by increasing the weight given to ELL students in the foundation formula.  The Board of Regents 2008-09 State Aid Proposal builds upon the historic State Aid reform enacted last year.
• As you will see in the “Regents Actions” section of this Bulletin, a number of accomplishments have been made to implement Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2007 (the 2007-08 State Budget) and significant work continues.
  
  In November, the Department approved the Contracts for Excellence that were submitted by 55 districts across the State.  In their Contracts, districts described their plans for using their State Aid to further the achievement of students most in need.  A formal announcement of the approval of the Contracts for Excellence was held in Buffalo last month and was attended by Governor Eliot Spitzer, members of the New York State Legislature, members of the New York State Board of Regents, Commissioner Mills, and many Superintendents and school leaders from the Contract districts, as well as teachers, students, and other partners.  I would like to thank each of the 55 school districts for the hard work that went into the development of the Contracts for Excellence. This initiative is just one example of your tremendous commitment to helping the students in your districts to succeed.  Copies of the approved Contracts are available athttp://eservices.nysed.gov/c4e-public/selectReports.jsp. The press release and presentations about the approval of the Contracts are available athttp://www.oms.nysed.gov/press/.
• In my role as a member of the steering committee for the Governor’s Children's Cabinet, I am pleased to report that the Cabinet  continues to make significant progress toward furthering Governor Spitzer’s plan for providing health insurance coverage for uninsured children and expanding high quality early childhood education.  Leaders from 19 State agencies, including the State Education Department, serve on the Cabinet.  Consistent with the goals of the Cabinet, as a result of an increase in the State budget this year for Universal Pre-Kindergarten through grants to school districts, 391 Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs have been funded across the State.  One-third of those programs are new programs this year.  In addition, as you will see in the “Regents Actions” section of this Bulletin, in September, the Board of Regents adopted regulations to provide flexibility to allow mid-year (January) start up of Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs.  We look forward to receiving additional program applications and serving additional children as a result of this action.
• Special congratulations to the teachers, administrators, students, and other members of the school communities in the 16 schools in New York State honored as 2007 Blue Ribbon Schools. The No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors elementary and secondary schools in the United States that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap or whose students achieve at very high levels.
  
  New York’s Blue Ribbon schools ranking in the top 10% of the State with at least 40% disadvantaged students are Bemus Elementary School in Bemus Point; I.S. 289 in New York, P.S. 184 Flushing Manor School in Whitestone; PS 41 Crocheron School in Bayside; Westmoreland Road Elementary School in Whitesboro. 
  
  New York’s Blue Ribbon schools in the top 10% of the state with fewer than 40% disadvantaged students are Altamont Elementary School in Altamont; Smallwood Drive School in Amherst; Casey Middle School in East Amherst; Eggert Road Elementary School in Orchard Park; Park Road School in Pittsford; Lynbrook South Middle School in Lynbrook; Strawtown Elementary School in West Nyack; Rosendale School in Schenectady; South Bay School in West Babylon; Farragut MS in Hastings-on-Hudson; and Noxon Road Elementary School in Poughkeepsie.
  
  All 2007 Blue Ribbon schools, including those in New York, were recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings at a ceremony in Washington, DC on November 12-13.
• In October, the Board of Regents named Richard Ognibene, Jr., an eleventh grade chemistry and twelfth grade physics teacher at Fairport High School in Fairport, NY, as the 2008 New York State Teacher of the Year.  Mr. Ognibene was honored for excellence in teaching and for his remarkable commitment to student learning and success at a reception in Albany. Four Teacher of the Year finalists were also honored at the event; they are Felipa Gaudet, a kindergarten teacher at Violet Avenue Elementary School in Poughkeepsie, NY; Anne Sierotnik, a high school English teacher at West Genesee High School in Camillus, NY; Alison Albright, a high school English teacher at Canandaigua Academy in Canandaigua, NY; and Elaine Ormsbee, an ADA-PEP counselor for grades five through seven at Gillette Road Middle School in Cicero, NY.  We would like to extend our congratulations to Mr.  Ognibene and the Teacher of the Year finalists and send our special thanks to the sponsors of the 2008 program - New York State United Teachers (NYSUT); New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NYACTE); New York State Association of Teacher Educators (NYSATE), New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers (NYSPTA), New York State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (NYSASCD); ING; the SMARTer Kids Foundation; and Teachingmadeeasier.com.
• On November 8, 2007, Regent Geraldine Chapey hosted a regional Board of Regents P-16 Education Leadership Forum at St. John’s University to discuss important topics impacting P-16 educators in the Queens area.  Over 140 education leaders from across the Pre-K-12 and higher education community joined Regent Chapey and other members of the Board of Regents, including Vice Chancellor Merryl Tisch, Regent Charles Bendit, Regent Karen Brooks-Hopkins, Regent Natalie Gomez-Velez, Regent Harry Phillips, and Regent Roger Tilles, in a rich discussion of regional opportunities and next steps for improving achievement and closing performance gaps across the Pre-K through higher education continuum.  The forum was a sponsored by the Board of Regents and the State Education Department, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the United Federation of Teachers, and the City University of New York.
• And finally, congratulations to Regent Roger Tilles who was recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.  Regent Tilles is recognized across the State and the nation for his commitment to the teaching profession and his history of helping students achieve.  His contributions as a member of the Board of Directors will help this already accomplished organization achieve new levels of success.

I hope you find this information to be helpful.  I want to thank you for your continued commitment to providing all students in our State with a high quality education and for the work that you do, day in and day out to help our children to learn, to grow, to achieve – and most importantly, to succeed.  If you have any questions or need additional information on any of the items in this Bulletin, please contact me at p16education@mail.nysed.gov.  I look forward to working with you in the coming months to maximizing these recent initiatives of the Board of Regents and the State Education to support you in your work to help all students achieve greater success.

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Board of Regents Actions

Decisions of the Commissioner of Education

Who to contact