ALBANY – The state can’t expect to meet a court order to reform its school-aid procedure without major changes to the teachers’ contract in New York City, a conservative think tank says in a report.
“Twenty years of evidence shows that increasing school aid without structural reforms will not improve city schools,” according to the report by Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute.
The report, written by Raymond Domanico, calls for the creation of a special “sound basic education” fund in the state budget to be targeted to schools in the city.
The institute also urges that the state stipulate that money from the fund not be made available until the city teachers and administrators agree to more flexible staff assignments and compensation policies, including pay incentives for teachers who work in the worst schools.
The state is under a court-imposed July 30 deadline to come up with a plan to better fund the city’s schools.
If the state misses the deadline, the court will appoint a team of “masters,” which will impose its own plan.
City teachers union head Randi Weingarten dismissed the Manhattan Institute report as “same old, same old” and “typical union bashing” by Domanico.
Weingarten said her union has already proposed a 15 percent pay incentive for teachers who agree to work in the city’s 200 worst schools.