Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

1) Property Tax Relief Through State Education Investment: The use of property taxes to fund education is unfair and unsustainable. Families and communities struggle with the uncertainty of school budgets and high property taxes. Meanwhile, every child in this state deserves access to a quality education. As a parent of children attending Albany schools I am committed to doing all I can to ensure our public schools have the resources they need to thrive.

Every year, the lack of state support for public education places increased burdens on property taxpayers and in our classrooms, while compromising quality and threatening crucial programs such as full-day pre-K and kindergarten, as well as after-school programs. The lack of state support pits communities against their own schools, which is tragic. It is time for the state to step up and shoulder more of the burden. By committing the state to fulfill its obligation to our schools, we can bring about a more effective and efficient delivery of education services, alleviate the burden on our property taxes and assure greater quality for all of New York's children. If elected, I will fight every day for state investment in public education.

2) Expand After-School Programs: I am proud to live in a State that produces some of the finest minds in the country, and it's up to every generation to continue to support this process. One of the keys to achieving learning and growth objectives is to invest in a vibrant set of after-school programs. These programs have been proven to enrich minds and to keep students engaged and out of trouble; they are also essential for the growing majority of households in working and middle-class homes, who need quality alternatives for "latchkey" children. Best of all, successful programs have demonstrated significant progress in improving academic achievement. As a working mother of two I know first-hand how important these programs are. I co-founded the Albany High School Working Group for Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs), which serves as a statewide model for increased participation in after-school programs and sports. Expanding these programs and enhancing summer school opportunities will be a top education priority as your representative in the Assembly.

3) Reinvest in Higher Education: As the daughter of immigrant parents, who worked hard but had very limited access to education, I was taught to embrace the vast educational opportunities our country has to offer, and no state offers more than New York does. Access to an affordable post-secondary education allowed me to transform an entire generation of my family -- helping to fulfill so many of my parent's dreams. New York has the most vibrant and expansive public university system in the nation. Our four-year institutions and community colleges are the main economic drivers in our state. Investing in our youth is the key to restoring our rightful place as a leader in the 21st century global economy.

Address Poverty to Help Schools

PATRICIA FAHY
Times Union Section: Perspective, Page: E1
Date: Sunday, December 17, 2006

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent hearing of cases challenging its own landmark ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education has reminded us again, a half century later, of how far astray we are from solving the seemingly intractable problem of soundly educating all children.

There appears to be no shortage of simplistic solutions. Most simply, look at the positive performance of students in affluent suburbs and the generally poor performance of students in urban areas and conclude that one set of schools simply does a better job than the other. The lawsuits and policy debates on race and academic achievement, however, are missing a key culprit: the detrimental effect of family and neighborhood poverty on school performance.

Recent research from Harvard's Richard Kahlenberg points to alarming increases in the economic segregation of our schools, particularly between urban and suburban areas, and the poverty levels have only worsened in the majority of urban neighborhoods since the 1970s. The flight of middle-class families and businesses to the suburbs accelerates economic segregation, and threatens to create a donut effect of homogeneity -- predominately poor children of color in urban schools, surrounded by predominately wealthier Caucasian children in suburban schools.

Albany is a case in point. Pundits are fond of saying the quality of our schools is directly linked to the economic vitality of this city, but it's a two-way street, and the economic desolation in many of Albany's neighborhoods directly affects the quality of our schools.

Too many urban neighborhoods fit sociologist William Julius Wilson's definition of "new urban poverty," where unemployed poor people have generally replaced working poor people and a substantial proportion of adults are simply out of the labor force. The concentration of poverty, Wilson argues, fuels the exodus of business and the isolation of neighborhood residents, thereby further isolating our schools from critical community support. While plenty of working poor remain in these neighborhoods, wages have not kept pace with the cost of living -- let alone the rent. Consequently, while a parent cares deeply about his or her child's education, the need to work multiple jobs limits school and community involvement.

Concentrated poverty is far from unique to Albany, but it is intensifying and fueling the economic flight from urban schools to suburban ones. Forty years ago, the groundbreaking Coleman Report on the Family linked school wealth to student performance. The study found that the wealth of a school is a leading predictor of academic success, second only to family influence. More recent research by Kahlenberg goes further in arguing that the poverty level of the school, not the individual family, is the key link in academic performance. Worse yet is his finding that no high-poverty school district in the country is high-performing, although some high-poverty schools have beaten the odds. Related research indicates that, on average, students do worse in high-poverty schools regardless of their particular family income.

A number of individual Albany schools successfully and repeatedly beat these odds, but the entire school district is, increasingly, a high-poverty one. While more must to be done within the schools, ensuring that all schools succeed cannot be accomplished simply behind school doors. The African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child has never been truer, but the village has grown. In Wake County, N.C., the village is defined countywide. One school district encompasses the county and is working to balance schools by ensuring that wealthier suburban areas take part in economically integrating all schools. It is important to note Kahlenberg's research stresses that all children, poor and middle class, benefit in mixed-income schools. Compared to high-poverty schools, he adds, students have fewer discipline problems, watch less TV, and are more apt to do homework and graduate.

I could add from the experience of my children, who attend the Albany public schools, the benefits go beyond academics to life lessons, which cannot be measured on standardized tests. Children growing up in a truly diverse school and community develop a broader worldview and accept, if not embrace, differences.

Policymakers and the media need to recognize this economic divide. Would-be reformers who dismiss the issues of poverty as an excuse for failure only help perpetuate the myth that schools alone can overcome every social ill. Schools are a critical part of the solution, but they cannot be a scapegoat for urban economic ills. We must look beyond the school doors and begin to rebuild economically devastated neighborhoods. For urban areas like Albany, that means economic development, job creation and job training. Neighborhood redevelopment programs, such as Albany's Park South, which include affordable housing, are a terrific start. Targeted home-buying incentives for police, firefighters and teachers would help jump-start additional neighborhood revitalization efforts. Increased home ownership, along with investments in community resources such as libraries, strict code enforcement and property-tax relief will have positive ripple effects throughout our community. Regional planning and cooperation is also essential to rebuild our core cities and ensure smart growth.

Albany leaders need to heed the words of sociologist Jean Anyon: Fixing inner-city schools without fixing the city is like trying to clean the air on one side of a screen door. We cannot fix one without the other. Albany already has so much to offer; capital investments in people and neighborhoods will help turn the tide against segregation and ensure the city's prominence.

Patricia Fahy is a former president of the Albany Board of Education and the parent of two Albany public school children.

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