Schools respond to state’s failure to apply for funding

January 21, 2010

OLEAN – Various school officials in Western New York have responded to an apparent failure by the state to apply for federal education funding by Tuesday’s deadline.

Olean City School District was one of several hundred that signed a Memo of Understanding for requesting funding from Race to the Top, a competitive U.S. Department of Education grant.

“Our district did support it,” said Superintendent Dr. Colleen Taggerty.

In a special session Monday, state legislators declined to act on the bill Gov. David Paterson had pushed for the state to have a crack at $700 million of this federal funding. The application for Race to the Top was due by 4 p.m. Tuesday in Washington.

The governor and legislative leaders agreed Friday to raise the limit on charter schools to better quality for federal Race to the Top educatio funds. However, the bill submitted by both chambers Saturday night included a limit of 400 schools, 54 lower than what Gov. Paterson reportedly stressed was the minimum to qualify for a full award.

Race to the Top would have helped school districts offset the costs of possible, upcoming changes, according to Ms. Taggerty.

 
 
The state’s new commissioner of education, David Steine r, is advocating aggressive reform of New York education. Ms. Taggerty said those could include looking hard at national standards, new assessments, and a change in curriculum, which would be a costly endeavor for an entity like Olean City School District.

“If New York state moves in that direction … it was appropriate for us to do that effort,” Ms. Taggerty said of applying for Race to the Top.

Hinsdale Central School District Superintendent Judi McCarthy has mixed feelings about the Legislature’s refusal to act on the bill presented by Gov. Paterson.

“The governor gave the Legislature too short of notice,”  Ms. McCarthy said.

In addition, she noted that while lifting the cap on charter schools would earn New York more points in the Race to the Top grant process, it is possible for New York to submit the application as is and still be successful in getting the funding.

On the other hand, Portville Central School District Superintendent Thomas Simon said, “Who’s to say that with increasing the cap on charter schools, which takes away funding from public schools, and getting the federal grant, that the moneys wouldn’t just offset each other?”

Mr. Simon went on to say that it is a “disappointment that this issue (cap on charter schools) is not resolved, that those involved could not meet on common ground for the best possible chance to receive the full grant money.”

Superintendent Diane Munro of the Allegany-Limestone Central School District, “appreciates the desire and passion that Gov. Paterson has shown to secure the opportunity to get the grant money from the federal government, because New York state desperately needs the money.”

However, she went on to say, “We don’t really see the effects charter schools have on public schools because charter scho ols are more localized to urban areas.”

Cuba-Rushford Central School District Superintendent Kevin Shanley noted, “We’re at the point now where we’re just getting the rest of the governor’s proposed budget, so we are looking for any money we can to keep our schools on the track that we had them headed – to make our students as successful as they can be.”

Mr. Shanley echoed Superintendent Simon in that it would be a disappointment if New York state did not get the grant moneys to “help the schools during these tough financial times.”