District Administration - October 2010 - (Page 40)

The Price of a Good Education are offering,” he explains. Albert adds that regardless of the cost, New York has a long track record of funding its schools. “We don’t want to be low on that list. We don’t want to live in a state that doesn’t invest in education,” he says. That investment is borne out, he continues, by the high rate at which voters approve school budgets the first time around—a hefty 97 percent in 2009. “And 2009 was a very challenging year financially,” Albert emphasizes. New Yorkers seem to be getting a good return on that investment in several areas. Albert points to a 2008 College Board statistic showing that New York’s students ranked second nationally in passing AP exams and that 84 percent of all students took the SAT, compared to the national average of 45 percent. While the state’s largest districts— New York City (1.1 million students), Buffalo (32,732), Rochester (32,132), and Yonkers (24,956)— receive similar perpupil funding, their educational strategies differ in how they spend that money. Of all three districts, the Yonkers Public Schools, just north of New York City, which spent $19,757 per pupil in 20082009 and $19,516 in 2009-2010, is the only one in good standing under NCLB guidelines, having come off the Needs Improvement list and met the Adequate Yearly Progress level last year, according the New York State Education Department. “We’ve made a lot of strides in the past five years,” says Superintendent Bernard Pierorazio, who says that over the past two years, the district’s enrollment has increased by nearly 2,000, many of those students lured back from private and parochial schools. “A lot more parents are buying into the public schools of Yonkers,” he says. Pierorazio’s efforts have ranged from expanding early childhood education to bolstering the college readiness of high school students. “We’re one of the few districts that offer a full-day pre-kindergarten with a set curriculum. This is where we’re investing in the future,” he says. He adds that the pre-K program has grown to 1,650, with a waiting list of 300, and that a large percentage of those students are able to read words by the time they enter kindergarten. In addition, almost 75 percent of Yonkers public school students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and 17 percent are in ESL programs. Pierorazio has put money into staff development aimed at increasing student literacy. “We looked at the research that says students coming out of high-poverty homes come to the schools with limited language skills,” he explains. At the other end of the school-age spectrum, the district pays for sophomores and juniors to take the PSAT. Yonkers’ International Baccalaureate program, which started with 21 participants in 1995, has grown into its own high school, with 1,000 students. And 750 middle school students follow an IB preparatory curriculum. Two years ago, the district opened its College Board Academy, with funds from the Gates Foundation, to make students more college ready and to improve the district’s 65 percent graduation rate. Yonkers has also received help from its educational foundation, Yonkers Partners in Education, which has financed collegeprep courses for high school students and a college center, with two full-time staff members, at each high school. District Administration Figure 4. Elementary-Secondary Spending Amounts Amounts by State: Elementary-Secondary Per PupilPer Pupil Current Spendingby State 2007-2008 2007-08 NY NJ AK DC VT CT WY RI MA MD DE PA HI NH ME WI VA United States IL OH MN MI LA CA WV GA ND KS MT NE OR IA MO SC AL WA CO NM IN FL KY AR SD TX NV NC MS TN OK AZ ID UT 5,765 14,630 14,594 14,300 13,848 13,840 13,539 13,454 12,966 12,253 12,035 11,800 11,619 11,572 10,680 10,659 10,259 10,246 10,173 10,140 10,069 9,954 9,863 9,852 9,788 9,675 9,667 9,666 9,577 9,558 9,267 9,216 9,170 9,103 9,099 9,079 9,068 9,036 9,035 8,686 8,541 8,367 8,320 8,285 7,996 7,901 7,739 7,685 7,608 6,931 17,173 16,491 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 20,00 Source: U.S. Census Bureau report, “Public Education Finances, 2008.” Note: Enrollments used to calculate per pupil amounts represent fall 2007 memberships collected by NCES on the CCD Agency file "Local Education Agency (School District) Universe Survey: 2007-08." 40 October 2010 SOURCE: 2008 Annual Survey of Local Government Finances - School Systems. Data are not subject to sampling error, but for information on nonsampling error and definitions, see introductory text.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - October 2010

District Administration - October 2010
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Curriculum Update
Facilities Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
The Price of a Good Education
Dividing Arizona
Making Your School Future-Proof
Connecting Curriculum with Community
A Small District’s Big Innovator
New Books
New Products
Product Focus
Tech Disruptions
Superintendent’s Insights
Online Edge
Professional Opinion

District Administration - October 2010