NPU Report on New York Education Finding Historic Investment With No Results for Kids
Last month Ashara Baker from National Parents Union launched an important report about the state of education in New York. We talked to her about the key conclusions of the report and what parents in New York need to know.
One of the most stunning findings in “CRITICAL CONDITION: The State of Education in New York 2023,” is the sharp decline in performance, as well as, the low numbers of proficiency to begin with.
CRITICAL CONDITION: The State of Education in New York 2023
Interview with Ashara Baker, National Parents Union
FFNY: Ashara, first tell us who you are and why you wrote this report?
AB: I’m a proud mother to my seven-year-old daughter. I’m also the NYS Director at the National Parents Union and Co-Founder of the NYS Charter Parent Council. I have had the privilege of meeting with and supporting families across the state from different regions, socio-economic backgrounds but similarly experiencing challenges within education for their kids. They’re struggling to find resources to get their kid extra help, they’re silenced at board meetings when asking about investing in evidence-based curriculum. Or they don’t know how far behind their kids are.
I wrote this report based on the need for transparency for parents and the community. Leaders need to speak truth to power- our kids are dramatically behind. NYS can not celebrate strides in rigor until we address single-digit proficiency outcomes!
We have various decision-makers who need to take accountability around educational outcomes and begin to work with families/communities around solutions. The information and data for the report were not easy to access. I had to hire a research fellow and navigated FOIL requests (some requests STILL have not been completed)
FFNY: The report shows that NY has made huge investments in education (we are #1 in education funding in the country), but all this money has not translated into academic success for our kids. Why do you think this is happening?
AB: There are a number of issues around the lack of academic success. We continue to hear a theme around Transparency and Accountability…
District budgets tend to read vague to the general public. Leaving room for open interpretation. Loose language leads to loose budgets. Families had a hard time determining how many positions were filled for academic roles and/or new positions and their purpose
Parents are unclear how much money is being directed to programs and overall how effective these programs are. We know we have a historic amount of money including covid relief funds. We need to align what we invest in such as curriculum, professional development, coaching, and programs with measurable outcomes
We need to redirect the conversation in NY from “Do we have enough funding for schools?” to “Are we investing the school funds in the right things for children?” There is a vast difference in these two discussions.
The comptroller's report stated that many districts utilized a significant portion of COVID relief dollars for operational costs.
FFNY: Your report discusses a handful of solutions. What can families and communities do to advocate for potential statewide legislation?
AB: Definitely do your research with your local representatives. Some may be local champions for education.
Lean into opportunities to discuss your district's proficiency rates. My report pulls data from the big five districts but NPU is happy to support families with resources on how to navigate how your school is performing.
Also note that this report was not developed to point fingers and place blame. There is light at the end of this discovery. And there is a lot of funding on the line, so we have an opportunity to reallocate how we invest to benefit children.
Additionally, NPU identified the following research-based solutions to help students catch up:
High impact tutoring and extended learning opportunities: Kids need extra time beyond the seven hour school day to catch up. Districts across New York should be initiating free tutoring programs for families that employ research-based methods to help students catch up in reading and math.
Transparency for parents about student achievement: Parents deserve to know if their student is behind. Schools should report regularly to parents about their students’ progress.Districts and schools should also report their systems’ level progress so that the state can provide supportive interventions to schools that need it most.
Provide targeted intervention to districts that need it most: Parents and communities need to be involved in district improvement planning and efforts. This requires transparency around student progress and what strategies districts are using to help kids catch up.
Ground teaching and learning in research: States across the country are making real, observable progress by adopting strategies for teaching and learning the science of reading and math. We applaud curriculum and standards improvements made by the New York State Department of Education this year and look forward to continuing to support programs to enhance the professional development, coaching and support needed to implement curriculum and standard effectively.
FFNY: The report rates the districts on how easy it is to find the information on the Covid funding. All NY districts got a low rating, with the exception of Syracuse. Why is it so hard for NY families to access this information?
AB: As I mentioned, none of this information was at my fingertips. It took hiring a research fellow to dedicate time solely to these data points. Some pages were not updated, while others were hard to interpret. We placed calls to senior-level admin who “weren’t at liberty to share information” or did not know the answers themselves. We also took time to dig deeper using FOIL requests…some requests are still unanswered.
We continue coming back to the conversation on transparency. Most of the covid relief dollar details aren’t being tracked. This is left up to districts and the state to report out. Therefore, local districts have all operated differently, which produces different results. A couple things are true around this topic. District leaders play a critical role in how these funds are being spent and are responsible for ensuring these investments lead to academic success.
ALSO district leaders should open their doors, create more space for families to be a part of decisions made around critical spending. In real time! Stop hosting meetings to simply get a reaction to what you’re proposing. Allow families to join in on your “pulse checks” to help support questions like “Is this program effective?”
