Closing
the Gaps
by Randi Weingarten
In the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case the courts
have ruled that the state must ensure that every child in
New York State has access to a sound, basic education, and
they have set a July 30 deadline for development of a plan
to provide the resources and reforms needed to make it happen.
Estimates for what a sound, basic education
for every student in the state will cost range from $2.5
billion to upwards of $20 billion. The Mayor has already
asked for $5.3 billion for the city.
Whatever the state
Legislature and the Governor agree to do, the state must
begin the process by providing a down payment—as
groups ranging from UPA, the United Parents Association,
to PENCIL, the business group that sponsors Principal for
a Day, have recommended. Given the pressing needs of our
system, there are many places where these funds could be
spent. But the best way to begin would be by pledging $1.5
billion of the CFE down payment to address two problems
that have long plagued our schools: the salary gap and the
student achievement gap.
Closing the salary
gap: Experience shows that when you focus resources to
ensure a qualified teacher in every classroom with a reduced
class size—as was done
with the More Effective Schools program of the 1960s and
the now disbanded Chancellor’s District program of
the late 1990s—children surge ahead regardless of their
socio-economic background. But attracting and retaining great
teachers have become continuing challenges in New York City
schools, in large part due to the gap between New York City
teacher salaries and those in surrounding communities—a
gap that is currently $10,000 to $15,000 wide.
Retirements have surged to record levels while
thousands of newer teachers leave after struggling with oversized
classes, poor student discipline, supply shortages and a
lack of support from school administrators. A recent City
Council investigation concluded that New York City will need
to recruit as many as 30,000 new teachers over the next three
years just to fill in for those who leave.
What will it take
for New York City schools to stop this brain drain? The
first step should be to close the yawning salary gap, and
the city—following the
advice of two recent blue-ribbon panels, one chaired by former
IBM chief Lou Gerstner and the other chaired by Frank Zarb—should
devote itself to providing competitive salaries across the
board, using $750 million of the CFE down payment. And to
ensure accountability, we would negotiate an expansion of
our Peer Intervention Program to help struggling teachers
improve or counsel them out of the profession.
The student achievement gap: We propose using
the other $750 million to create a New York City School Enterprise
Zone to help turn around 200 struggling schools. The zone
would target the money to reduce class size, extend the school
day for small group instruction for children who are falling
behind, and provide a broad spectrum of instructional, health
and social services.
City schools in the Enterprise Zone would also
have enriched curricula including art, music, foreign languages
and career and technical exploration; special reading and
math programs chosen by school staff from scientifically
proven models; expanded health and physical education programs;
and a strictly enforced school discipline code. For elementary
schools we would add enriched early childhood programs beginning
in an expanded pre-k program and including a promotional
gate in grade one to ensure that children keep pace in learning
to read.
All educators in these
schools—which are
among the most difficult to staff—would also receive
an additional 15 percent pay differential to encourage and
reward those who volunteer to work in these very demanding
situations.
Making it happen: Turning cutting-edge proposals
like these into reality requires a real spirit of cooperation
among City Hall, the Department of Education and the UFT.
We stand ready and willing to walk the halls of Albany together
with the Mayor and the Chancellor to get this done. After
all, when it comes to helping our kids, we have a moral obligation
to work together regardless of our differences.
Let 2004 be remembered
as the year we took bold steps to close the teacher salary
gap and the student achievement gap. Let it be remembered—as
we acknowledge the 50-year anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education—as the year in which we fulfilled the case’s
promise in New York City by providing students and teachers
with the resources and reforms needed for all schools to
succeed.#
Randi Weingarten is President, UFT.