Edward Placke is Superintendent of the Greenburgh-North Castle Unified School District, which serves students from urban areas who are primarily of African, Caribbean and Spanish heritage. All students are eligible for the federal free lunch program and are identified as disabled, primarily emotionally disabled. He wants the public to know that these students have been shamefully neglected in the state budget, for years.
There is a small yet growing cohort of students in our State that are identified as disabled with significant behavioral and psychological challenges, live in urban poverty and have found little success in their home public schools and other public schools such as District 75 and BOCES. As a result, there are few alternatives for these students. The ten New York State Public Special Act School Districts in our State have traditionally been the sole alternative; student live on the campuses in light of their family situation or commute daily from their communities. They provide a comprehensive education for these students to assist them to cross “The Bridge to Adulthood” with graduation rates that are significantly higher than the State average for student with disabilities. For most it is the last option before leaving school and facing those negative outcomes associated with not earning a high school diploma. Clearly Public Special Act School play a role in educational options for student with disabilities.
The Public Special Act School Districts are funded via a tuition rate in which the methodology is established by the New York State Education Department and all increases are approved by the Division of Budget overseen by the Governor. Four of the last five years the Public Special Act School Districts have not received an increase in tuition. As Teacher Retirement, Employee Retirement, New York State Health Insurance, utilities, materials and supplies have all significantly increased, the support from the Governor and our representatives have not. Our students do not have a voice as do the community school districts and charter schools. We do not have the resources to purchase billboards, run ads in the media and most disappointingly have very little parent involvement and advocacy. Therefore it is our elected representatives in Albany to be the voice for these most vulnerable students. They had an opportunity this week to include the Public Special Act School Districts in the budget to ensure our sustainability but they chose not to and once again ignored the most needy student cohort in our State.
As a former New York State Education Department Assistant Commissioner, public school administrator and teacher for over thirty years I have face a variety of challenges and disappointments. The unwillingness of our so-called representatives to advocate for the Public Special Act School Districts is certainly disappointing but repressible. The message this week from Albany is clear—community public school districts for the most part received an increase in State Aid and the Public Special Act School Districts that educate our most disabled poorest cohort of students were disregarded. My greatest fear based on Albany’s outright disregard for these key public districts and the students they educate is they will not exist in the very near future. At that point there will be a new generation of students. With time running out my only hope is the Governor will have the courage to be the voice for our students.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hmmmm…Isn’t NYC a playground for the rich? There are the rich from all over the world who own really, really expensive homes/penthouses occupied only a few months out of a year.
Many properties in NYC and boroughs owned by foreign interests and people for investment purposes.
Why should the powers that be actually CARE about the people LIVE here?????
Talk about our own so called public spirited politicians giving away the store.
Ms. Ravitch: Hello. I recently sent you a query via snail mail. Not sure you’ve received it yet. I am researching public school education in New York City in 1903. Specifically, first grade education. Might you be able to point me toward any resources? Many thanks.
Alan Frutkin,
Please look for work by Professor Stephan Bromberg of CUNY. He is an expert on that era. He can be located at Brooklyn College or the Graduate Center of CUNY or the Manhattan phone book.
In case it isn’t clear to readers from other states, this is one of about a dozen special districts in New York that accommodate Title I Part D students. This district will spend $80,000 per student during the 2014-2015 school year.
The analyses that identify New York State’s tax policies as regressive overlook the fact that New Yorkers pay more state and local tax than anyone else in the country. It’s not a coincidence that Connecticut is a hedge fund stronghold, or that Jersey City’s skyline is suddenly starting to look like Minneapolis’s. Slap a penalty tax on pied-à-terres, and that market will either contract or take it out of the hides not of the owners, but of the regular folks who make a living in that industry.
The taxation issues have to be dealt with at the Federal level, and/or our New York’s senators and representatives have to do a much better job of balancing what New York sends to Washington and what it gets back.
The answer is really very simple. The business community decided, a long time ago, that they were not interested in supporting education for all children. Unless businessmen are assured a direct return on their investment, they are no longer expected to pay for education. Their pocket politicians have made it legal for businessmen to make money not spend money on education (charters, tax credits, private colleges, etc). The students in your schools are not worth their time, or even one thin dime.