A formatted pdf of our Legislative Agenda that you can download and forward to your legislators is here.  It is also described below.

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Funding and class size

The state should fully fund foundation aid over two years, with an additional $2 billion statewide in year one and $1.8 billion in year two. Of that amount, $1.1 billion over two years should be allocated for NYC public schools.

These funds should also be tied to stronger accountability, transparency and in NYC, an actual class size reduction plan that results in smaller classes in the public schools, as envisioned in the original CFE decision and Contracts for Excellence law. The state should also require that the mandated public participation in the Contracts for Excellence process should happen before DOE has allocated and spent the foundation funds, rather than afterward, as currently occurs.

Charter schools

Keep the cap on all new NYC charter schools and amend the charter school law to include stronger accountability and transparency requirements, requiring them to report enrollment, suspension and attrition rates, abide by the same disciplinary and due process rules as public schools, and undergo regular performance audits by the state and city comptroller. (There is a list of relevant charter school bills on the reverse side.)

Eliminate the unfair burden that NYC should have to cover the rental costs of private buildings  for new and expanding charter schools – the only district in the state and the nation with this obligation and one that costs NYC more than $100 million a year.  Also require that the state provide reimbursement to NYC for some of its lost operating expenses from the charter sector – the only school district in the state that doesn’t receive any of this transitional aid.

Revenue proposals

Raise taxes on the extremely wealthy, starting with individuals who earn over a million dollars a year. (S7378 – prime sponsor Sen. Jackson).

Impose impact fees on developers to go into a fund to provide for new school construction.  Over half of all states but not NY have legislation allowing for impact fees, including California, Texas and Florida. (A01094 – prime sponsor AM Glick).

Support S44/ A4540  – sponsored by Sen. Hoylman and AM Glick – a pied-a-terre tax for second homes worth over $5 million that would bring a minimum of $650 million per year to NYC.

Support S303/A3976 to tax the income of hedge fund and private equity investors at the same rate as regular taxpayers.

Parent rights and input

Make explicit in NY state law that parents should be notified of their right to opt their children out of the state 3rd to 8th grade standardized tests, and that neither the families who exercise this right nor their schools will suffer any negative consequences.

Create a Commission on School Governance with parent, community and advocacy representatives to consider if there needs to be stronger checks and balances and more institutionalized parent and community input added when the current system of mayoral control is set to expire in 2022.

List of charter school bills we support:

1. S.4237/A.8030 (Hoylman/Benedetto) to require transparency and accountability of charter schools
2. S.6043/A.8027 (Liu/Benedetto) to repeal charter school facilities aid
3. S.5950/A.8029 (Mayer/Benedetto) to limit charter school grade level expansions
4. S.4926/A.7766 (Liu/Benedetto) to permit the state comptroller to conduct financial audits of NYC charter schools
5. S.2743/A.6934 (Addabbo/Nolan) to require charter schools to disclose financial information on contracts signed with Education Management Organizations to any authority that can audit charter schools
6. S.4933/A.7237 (Liu/Ryan) to appoint an independent receiver upon the closing of a charter to perform financial audits and facilitate the return of public funds to the school district
7. S.5978/A.8028 (Mayer/Benedetto) to include school districts and community school districts in the charter approval process in over-enrolled districts
8. S.3334-A/A.3289-A (Jackson/Bichotte) to require charter school discipline codes match local school district discipline codes
9. S.2168/A.3979 (Bailey/Hyndman) to prohibit the conversion of an existing public school to a charter school where a history of anti-union animus exists
10. S.5734/A.7848 (Jackson/Bichotte) to remove SUNY as a charter school authorizer