Driving conditions are quite treacherous this morning due to a steady snowfall creating very slippery roads. Some buses are not able to complete their routes, especially in hilly areas of Town of Newburgh.
Preliminary Aid Data
The New York "State Aid Runs" are available as a several megabyte PDF from the NYCOSS Blog.
The Newburgh School District is on page 52. The total anticipated aid for 2009-2010 is $131,294,135. The total projected state aid for 2010-2011 is $128,514,368, a reduction of $2,779,767.
Newburgh Schools in Paper of Record
On Friday, January 15, the New York Times picked up an AP story about the NECSD closure.
After Killing, Newburgh Schools to Close
NEWBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -- The city schools here were ordered closed on Friday, two days after a 17-year-old boy was killed in a street fight and three other youths were hospitalized with stab wounds, officials said. A 13-year-old boy was charged as an adult with murder.
Lt. Charles Broe of the Newburgh police identified the victim as Levy King Flores of Newburgh, who died while being airlifted to a hospital on Wednesday afternoon. He would not identify the boy who was charged.
The police said four other students were arrested Thursday after fights broke out at Newburgh Free Academy, where Mr. Flores was a student. Officials of the school district declared an "emergency crisis" and canceled after-school activities and closed schools for Friday.
Investigators are still trying to determine what led to the killing, although gang activity is suspected, Lieutenant Broe said. The five involved in the fight on Wednesday all knew one another, and there was a history of animosity between them, he said.
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Limited Information from District Website
The Newburgh School District explanation for the closure of the district on Friday, from the district homepage:
POSTED: Thurs., Jan 13, 2010
***Important District Information***In response to an incident in the City of Newburgh last night the Newburgh Enlarged City School District will be cancelling all after school activities for today, Thurs., January 14, 2010. At this time, NECSD officials are working in conjunction with the City of Newburgh Police Department to ensure the safety and well being of all NECSD students and staff. The safety of our students and staff remains the top priority.
In addition, the NECSD will be closed tomorrow, Fri., January 15, 2010 in an effort to keep the unrest within the City of Newburgh from filtering into the schools. This includes all after school activities and scheduled events. School will resume as scheduled on Tues., January 19, 2010 following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The post contained little information. There was more information in the New York Times.
No Afterschool Activities
If you are on the Newburgh School District's robo-call system you probably received a message this afternoon announcing that after school activities have been cancelled for today. An ordinary person might wonder why this is occurred.
Apparently there has been an incident over at the High School and the building was in "lock-down".
The Times Herald-Record has appended some information to a story about a stabbing which occurred yesterday:
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"Four students arrested in fights at NFA Thursday"
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Newburgh Police Chief Eric Paolilli held a press conference for noon on Thursday. He said police had already arrested four students at Newburgh Free Academy, the district's sole high school. Lots of police have been added to district schools to deal with fallout from the stabbings, he said.
The front page of the THR site says: "district to close all its school Friday in response to 'emergency crisis'".
Race To The Top and Newburgh Schools
Although there has been very little public discussion about this topic I believe that the Newburgh School District Administration has likely signed on to the NYS RTTT application.
Last Friday, in an article in the Times Herald-Record about RTTT the NTA president was quoted:
Patricia Van Duser, president of the Newburgh Teachers Association, supports linking scores to performance, so long as that's not the only measure. Other districts, however, are struggling with the agreement because their union contracts don't allow such accountability measures.
This is a smart move on the part of the NTA. Although there are many questions to raise about the RTTT program itself, there is a lot of grant money at stake and the NYS budget situation is dire. Due to it's Title 1 status the Newburgh School District is likely to be in line for substantial grant funding through RTTT. The bottom line is that if RTTT funding comes through, the expectation is that teachers' jobs will be saved.
Yesterday the Record reported that Nearly all schools join state application for federal funds.
To date, 656 School districts of 700 overall and 146 of 154 charter schools have submitted the required paperwork.
Education Commissioner David M. Steiner said, "We are very pleased at the support demonstrated thus far and are deeply encouraged to have received the commitment of our partners across the state."
New York State and Race to the Top
How is New York Sate participating in RTTT?
Several months ago, there was some concern that New York would not be able to apply for RTTT grants. In New York Education law there is a prohibition on using student assessments as an evaluation critiria for teachers seeking tenure. There was debate on this issue. Proponents of NYS participation in RTTT argued either that the legal provission didn't necessarily disqualify NYS; or that the law could expire before RTTT awards began.
Back in July, Joanne Weiss, who oversees RTTT, said that the NYS tenure provision was a problem.
The Obama administration official in charge of an educational innovation fund yesterday issued a warning to a New York audience: Unless the state legislature revises a law now on the books about teacher tenure, the state could lose out on the $4.35 billion fund she controls.
Joanne Weiss said the Obama administration aims to reward states that use student achievement as a "predominant" part of teacher evaluations with the extra stimulus funds -- and pass over those that don't. New York state law currently bans using student data as a factor in tenure decisions.
Test scores aren't everything, Weiss said. "But it seems illogical and indefensible to assume that those aren't part of the solution at all," she said, echoing nearly word-for-word Education Secretary Arne Duncan's remarks last week to the National Education Association.
More details, and links are available in the original post at GothamSchools.
In any event, NYS Education Commissioner David Steiner has worked to put an application together. There is information about the NYS application here.
The NYS web page explains
To qualify for Race to the Top funding, states are required to advance reforms around four specific areas:
* Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college, the workplace and the global economy;
* Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;
* Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
* Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.
The NYS Council of School Superintendents weblog covered the NYS proposal in depth. In the end, the council recommended that "district leaders consider signing the Memorandum of Understanding to signify their support" of the program.
From the New York Times, January 7, Seeking Grants, Paterson Urges Education Changes:
Gov. David A. Paterson on Thursday proposed a host of changes in state education law, including eliminating the cap on the number of charter schools, which he said would make the state more likely to receive $700 million in federal grant money.
The governor's bill would also repeal a 2008 law that banned the use of standardized test scores in tenure decisions, as well as give the state the ability to pay for charter school construction and allow the state to take over low-performing schools.
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Governor Pattersons's press release of Jan 7: "Governor Paterson proposes legislation to maximize new york state's eligibility for Race To The Top funding".
What is Race To The Top?
RTTT is a Federal Department of Education grant program, established as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. $4.35 billion dollars have been allocated to the program.
You can read all the details of the federal program at the US DOE website.
A few key points:
- $4.35 billion dollars.
- Governors need to apply on behalf of their states.
- One half of the money granted to a state must be distributed to Title 1 districts. The state has some discretion over how the other half is allocated.
- First round applications are due January 19, 2010. Second round June 1, 2010.
- There are significant strings attached to accepting the funds...
And to get a sense of what the attached strings are, here is an extract from the official Notice Inviting Applications.
Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 221/Wednesday, November 18, 2009/Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Overview Information; Race to the Top
Fund; Notice Inviting Applications for
New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010...
Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Race to the Top Fund, a competitive grant program authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), is to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant improvement in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in student achievement, closing achievement gaps, improving high school graduation rates, and ensuring student preparation for success in college and careers; and implementing ambitious plans in four core education reform areas:
(a) Adopting internationally-benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
(b) Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals in how they can improve their practices;
(c) Increasing teacher effectiveness and achieving equity in teacher distribution; and
(d) Turning around our lowest- achieving schools. Priorities: These priorities are from the notice of final priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria for this program, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.
Absolute Priority: For FY 2010, this priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet this priority. Applicants should address this priority throughout their applications.
Priority 1: Absolute Priority--Comprehensive Approach to Education Reform.
To meet this priority, the State's application must comprehensively and coherently address all of the four education reform areas specified in the ARRA as well as the State Success Factors Criteria in order to demonstrate that the State and its participating LEAs are taking a systemic approach to education reform. The State must demonstrate in its application sufficient LEA participation and commitment to successfully implement and achieve the goals in its plans; and it must describe how the State, in collaboration with its participating LEAs, will use Race to the Top and other funds to increase student achievement, decrease the achievement gaps across student subgroups, and increase the rates at which students graduate from high school prepared for college and careers.
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December 15, 2009 Newburgh School District BOE Meeting
A little light holiday reading...
There was a BOE meeting Tuesday December 15. Full notes here.
McQuade to close, NECSD takeover unlikely
The Times Herald-Record reported on December 11 that the Newburgh School District may be interested in buying the McQuade campus.
Newburgh district might want to buy McQuade facility
By Michael Randall
NEW WINDSOR - Newburgh Superintendent of Schools Annette Saturnelli hinted Thursday the district might be interested in acquiring McQuade's New Windsor campus once it becomes vacant.
"It's such a beautiful facility," Saturnelli said.
But first, Saturnelli and officials in other school districts and social service agencies are scrambling to find alternative programs for the students they've placed there now that McQuade's shutting down its Kaplan School for Special Education.
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At the December 15 BOE meeting Asistant Superintendent of Finance Pacella said that the Newburgh School District was unlikely to take such a step unless it worked out to be a financial savings (because fewer special education students would need to be acccommodated through external service providers).