Closing the Gaps
by Randi Weingarten

In the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case the courts have ruled that the state must ensure that every child in New York State has access to a sound, basic education, and they have set a July 30 deadline for development of a plan to provide the resources and reforms needed to make it happen.

Estimates for what a sound, basic education for every student in the state will cost range from $2.5 billion to upwards of $20 billion. The Mayor has already asked for $5.3 billion for the city.

Whatever the state Legislature and the Governor agree to do, the state must begin the process by providing a down payment—as groups ranging from UPA, the United Parents Association, to PENCIL, the business group that sponsors Principal for a Day, have recommended. Given the pressing needs of our system, there are many places where these funds could be spent. But the best way to begin would be by pledging $1.5 billion of the CFE down payment to address two problems that have long plagued our schools: the salary gap and the student achievement gap.

Closing the salary gap: Experience shows that when you focus resources to ensure a qualified teacher in every classroom with a reduced class size—as was done with the More Effective Schools program of the 1960s and the now disbanded Chancellor’s District program of the late 1990s—children surge ahead regardless of their socio-economic background. But attracting and retaining great teachers have become continuing challenges in New York City schools, in large part due to the gap between New York City teacher salaries and those in surrounding communities—a gap that is currently $10,000 to $15,000 wide.

Retirements have surged to record levels while thousands of newer teachers leave after struggling with oversized classes, poor student discipline, supply shortages and a lack of support from school administrators. A recent City Council investigation concluded that New York City will need to recruit as many as 30,000 new teachers over the next three years just to fill in for those who leave.

What will it take for New York City schools to stop this brain drain? The first step should be to close the yawning salary gap, and the city—following the advice of two recent blue-ribbon panels, one chaired by former IBM chief Lou Gerstner and the other chaired by Frank Zarb—should devote itself to providing competitive salaries across the board, using $750 million of the CFE down payment. And to ensure accountability, we would negotiate an expansion of our Peer Intervention Program to help struggling teachers improve or counsel them out of the profession.

The student achievement gap: We propose using the other $750 million to create a New York City School Enterprise Zone to help turn around 200 struggling schools. The zone would target the money to reduce class size, extend the school day for small group instruction for children who are falling behind, and provide a broad spectrum of instructional, health and social services.

City schools in the Enterprise Zone would also have enriched curricula including art, music, foreign languages and career and technical exploration; special reading and math programs chosen by school staff from scientifically proven models; expanded health and physical education programs; and a strictly enforced school discipline code. For elementary schools we would add enriched early childhood programs beginning in an expanded pre-k program and including a promotional gate in grade one to ensure that children keep pace in learning to read.

All educators in these schools—which are among the most difficult to staff—would also receive an additional 15 percent pay differential to encourage and reward those who volunteer to work in these very demanding situations.

Making it happen: Turning cutting-edge proposals like these into reality requires a real spirit of cooperation among City Hall, the Department of Education and the UFT. We stand ready and willing to walk the halls of Albany together with the Mayor and the Chancellor to get this done. After all, when it comes to helping our kids, we have a moral obligation to work together regardless of our differences.

Let 2004 be remembered as the year we took bold steps to close the teacher salary gap and the student achievement gap. Let it be remembered—as we acknowledge the 50-year anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education—as the year in which we fulfilled the case’s promise in New York City by providing students and teachers with the resources and reforms needed for all schools to succeed.#

Randi Weingarten is President, UFT.