A legislative study guide to Albany’s top education issues

From school funding to state standards, education is always at the top of the agenda in Albany. Here’s a crash course on a few other key issues in New York.

Common Core

The controversial Common Core standards and related teacher evaluations have dominated the education agenda during Andrew Cuomo’s tenure as governor. First, it was the fallout of the initiative’s implementation, which many have called “flawed” and “uneven.” Cuomo’s push to tie a new teacher evaluation system to student performance on the state tests caused the political conversation around the curriculum to grow so heated that last fall he finally announced the state would overhaul Common Core. During his teacher evaluation push, Cuomo faced a heavy political attack from the state’s teachers union. Cuomo created a new Common Core task force in September, and in December the task force released its final report. The task force recommended the state review the current Common Core standards, the quality of the state tests and examine how schools can cut back on the length and number of tests after many parents and teachers accused school districts of “teaching to the test.” As part of the overhaul, the task force recommended the state hold off on tying teacher evaluations to state tests until the 2019-20 academic school year, when the new statewide standards will be put into place.

Mayoral control

Mayoral control, which has been in place since 2002, is set to expire again on June 30. The law gives the mayor of New York City the power to choose the schools chancellor, oversee the education budget and set policies for the city’s 1,600 district schools. At the end of the session last year, Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan failed to reach a long-term solution for mayoral control and instead agreed to a one-year extension. The executive budget offers a compromise on the issue, proposing a three-year extension, as it did last year. The Democrat-controlled Assembly, which has closer ties to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, has proposed a seven-year extension, as it did last year. The Republican-dominated state Senate rejects even a three-year extension of the law, leaving the future of mayoral control uncertain. Mayoral control briefly expired in 2009 when lawmakers were unable to reach a deal, but was ultimately renewed by the end of the summer.

Funding for charter schools

Both the governor and state Senate propose $27 million in direct support for charter schools. The governor’s executive budget also would eliminate a facilities aid formula for New York City charter schools that are denied co-location and makes permanent an alternate, expiring formula that provides additional facilities aid to city charter schools. The state Senate supports these proposals, but expands them. Additionally, the state Senate proposes increasing charter school tuition rates in New York City and establishing building aid for charter schools statewide. Their proposal would allow charters to participate in full-day pre-kindergarten programs without signing a contract with a collaborating district and would maintain supplemental basic tuition payments to charter schools of $500 per student, while eliminating the state reimbursement, shifting additional costs to districts. The Assembly’s one-house budget rejects all of the governor’s charter school proposals. The Assembly, largely aligned with the state teachers union, proposed several new accountability measures, including new disciplinary procedures, a reduction in the number of uncertified teachers employed in charters and a requirement that charter schools established in conjunction with a nonprofit disclose the extent of the nonprofit’s participation in management and operation of charter schools.

Pre-K funding

After a major push in 2014, $1.5 billion was included in the 2014-15 state budget for statewide full-day pre-kindergarten. Last year, an additional $30 million was included in the budget to expand the program for 3-year-olds. This year, Cuomo proposed adding another $22 million for 3-year-olds in pre-K, as well as establishing a grant board to oversee the three existing pre-K grant programs. The governor, Assembly speaker and state Senate majority leader would each appoint a member to the three-member board, and the state Office of Children and Family Services would serve as staff for the board. Cuomo also proposes that any state-funded pre-K program found in need of “extraordinary quality support” from state agencies would be required to participate in the QUALITYstarsNY project, which reviews early education programs, as a condition for receiving state funding. Both the Assembly and state Senate reject the proposals to create a new board and adopt QUALITYstarsNY. The Assembly proposes an increase of $22 million this year and provides a five-year financial assistance program for school districts offering new full-day kindergarten.

SUNY/CUNY2020

NYSUNY2020 and NYCUNY2020 were established in 2011 with the intent to keep tuition increases low and predictable. Previously, college and university students were subject to unscheduled and drastic tuition increases. The law is set to expire on July 1, 2016. Cuomo’s executive budget proposes extending the legislation for an additional five years. SUNY and CUNY schools would be allowed to raise tuition up to $300 annually, but would have to demonstrate efforts to reduce spending and prove any increase is tied to appropriate needs. However, the Assembly is proposing a two-year tuition freeze and has committed to fighting Cuomo’s plan to have New York City pick up $486 million to fund CUNY. The state Senate supports Cuomo’s five-year extension, and opposes the Assembly’s push for a two-year tuition freeze. In addition, the state Senate proposes increasing the income eligibility and Tuition Assistance Program awards, creating a new tax exemption for student loan interest and increasing the amount of the Tuition Tax Credit.

Education Investment Tax Credit

The Education Investment Tax Credit, also known as the Parental Choice in Education Act in the executive budget, has stalled in the state Legislature in recent years. Last year, Cuomo tried to pass it by tying it to the Dream Act, another piece of legislation that has stalled in the last few years. The Assembly has long championed the Dream Act, which would give undocumented immigrants who meet certain conditions access to state financial aid, while blocking the EITC; the state Senate is in favor of the EITC, but is staunchly opposed to the Dream Act. The executive budget proposes a $150 million annual income tax credit for donations to educational organizations, for private and public school tuition and for teacher-purchased classroom supplies. Under the governor’s proposal, donations by individuals or businesses can receive a tax credit for up to 75 percent of their donations. The Assembly has once again rejected the proposal. The state Senate would amend the governor’s proposal and replace it with the version it passed in January. The state Senate’s bill would allow up to $300 million annually in state general funds to cover tax credits from donors who contribute to educational scholarship organizations and other local education funds.