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| Special Act, 853 schools Union seeks fairness in funding, pensions 
May 5, 2004
Members of Special Act districts, including Graham School , Greenburgh 11 school at Children's Village and the Abbott School , listen to Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Westchester. The latest NYSUT lobby day was “special” in more ways than one. Besides being the debut of such an effort for Special Act and 853 schools, it focused on the special ed system in which the state places its most difficult students.
“The lift you give the traditional public schools, by taking in the most troubled kids, is phenomenal,” New York State United Teachers Executive Vice President Alan Lubin told representatives before they went off to tell lawmakers about the funding, pension and accountability issues facing the 14 Special Act and 120 schools so-named for Chapter 853 of the laws of 1976, that provided for the public school system's responsibility for education of students with disabilities. The lobbyists-for-a-day advocated for:
Joe Choma and Buddy Clark, who both teach at Special Act districts in Westchester County , lobbied for pension equity for their colleagues at 853 schools across the state. “It's just an equitable thing to do, because these people are teaching the public's children,” said Choma, president of the 82-member Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Federation of Teachers. “Without these schools, what would we do with our most disturbed kids?” Clark thanked Senate Education Chairman Steve Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, for sponsoring a pension equity bill with Assembly Labor Committee Chairwoman Susan John, D-Rochester. Funding for these schools is an ongoing issue. The union advocates are supporting a bill to use multi-year, tuition rate-setting methodology. The NYSUT-backed bill is sponsored by Assembly Education Chairman Steve Sanders, D-Manhattan, and Sen. Nick Spano, R-Westchester. It would also allow these schools to maintain up to a 2 percent fund balance and provide other means to help pay for unexpected expenses or cope with delays in state reimbursement. “Now we operate on a budget conceived two years earlier, so we can't anticipate anything unforeseen,” Clark said. For example, schools must make significant new expenditures to meet the federal No Child Left Behind Act requirements. Add to the fiscal uncertainty the unknowns that come with students who have not regularly attended school, are in foster care or have been abused. “We have the fire starters and the sex offenders, but they are still kids,” said Deborah Kiely, a member of the 130-member Greenburgh 11 Federation of Teachers. “If we don't break the cycle for these kids, they won't have any options left.” Lack of public accountability is often an issue in Special Act schools, which receive millions in state tuition, yet have school boards selected by the child-care institutions. NYSUT is seeking sponsors for legislation to provide for an “arms-length” relationship between schools and the agencies that run them. NYSUT is encouraging all members to support these initiatives on behalf of Special Act and 853 members by sending in letters posted on its Web site, www.nysut.org. Click on “Contact your elected officials,” then “Fax your NY state legislator.” - Betsy Sandberg |
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