Article Category ID: 4

These are articles listed under New York

• Improving Access to Higher Education
• Funding Small Schools
• School Funding and Accountability

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the id 3

New York State needs a fair funding formula with built in accountability measures. Winning last year’s historic increase in school funding was only the beginning of turning around our troubled education system and creating excellent schools. $1.1 billion in need-based foundation aid to local districts this year, phasing up to $5.5 billion in four years, can go a long way towards rectifying huge inequities in the system.

But it is incumbent upon the state to ensure that increased dollars go to the schools that need them most, that programs are clearly defined, and that money can be easily tracked by all stakeholders – including policy makers, advocates and parents. To do that, the state must: 1) establish a base formula and eliminate additional spending streams that serve to obscure actual funding levels and shortchange the neediest schools; and 2) tie new funding to a comprehensive agenda of reform and accountability – financial, programmatic and performance based – by establishing and overseeing the Contracts for Excellence.