ALBANY, N.Y. Oct. 31, 2017 — New York State United Teachers today released the following statement on the State Education Department’s announcement regarding schools in receivership.
“It is no coincidence that the 11 districts with receivership schools are owed a total of $1.9 billion in overdue state Foundation Aid,” said NYSUT President Andrew Pallotta. “Rather than imposing punitive measures upon schools, the state should instead focus on providing appropriate funding and the time necessary to allow teachers to enact real solutions that help students succeed.”
While praising the hard work of teachers that resulted in 61 schools meeting demonstrable improvement, Pallotta said, “the state’s receivership law serves only to mislabel schools and scapegoat educators who teach in some of New York’s neediest communities. As NYSUT has long argued, it is well past time to repeal receivership and focus instead on investing in schools in communities where help is needed most.”
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.