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Education policy – and funding – are likely to chart a new course when a Democrat-controlled Legislature arrives in Albany next year. But it’s not clear whether that new course will benefit area districts.

Many education activists are hopeful complete Democratic control will mean big increases in education funding and a commitment to implementing the state’s foundation aid formula, which spells out the amount of money state districts must spend on educating students.

But some upstate superintendents are concerned their Republican state senators won’t have the same pull in budget negotiations, once they are the minority party.

Districts across the Capital Region – from Fort Plain to Schenectady – once represented by lawmakers in the majority are now left to wonder whether the new Democratic majority in the state Senate will consider their needs. The state foundation aid formula was created to define the amount districts need to spend to meet student needs, considering poverty levels, regional costs and student enrollment, among other factors

“Most districts are small, rural districts and are accustomed to relying on primarily Republicans in the Senate,” said Bob Lowry of the state Council of School Superintendents. “I anticipate school officials in upstate regions will be wondering ‘What are the implications of this?’”

Schenectady Superintendent Larry Spring, who has pressed for more school funding, said that, while Democrats have generally been more supportive of increased school aid, long-time incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Tedisco was effective in garnering more money for the district in recent years.

Spring said Tedisco’s status as part of the majority benefited the Electric City in recent state school aid budgets. Spring said he doesn’t have a feel for whether total Democratic control of the Senate will be to the district’s benefit.

“That’s not something I relish,” said Spring of Tedisco now advocating on behalf of Schenectady from the minority party.

For his part, Tedisco said the change in Albany’s power dynamic could be disastrous for upstate region school districts.

“When you have one voice, one political affiliation overwhelmingly controlled by one region of the state — downstate interests — you really don’t have a representative democracy,” Tedisco said.

“My real concern at this time is, without checks and balances, I think it’s going to be pretty hard to get our fair share upstate,” Tedisco said.





He expects Democrats in the Senate and Assembly to boost overall education spending, Tedisco said, but focus the vast majority of the increases on downstate communities, where a wave of newly-elected Democratic senators helped seize the majority.

Tedisco also tried to shift the onus for ensuring that Schenectady receives a robust amount of school aid to the area’s Assembly representatives, now in the Legislature’s bicameral majority.

“I expect them to bring home the bacon now because there’s no excuse,” said Tedisco of Assembly Democrats.

“I want to see the guys talking about fully funding education,” Tedisco continued. “To be as effective at not only getting more money, but getting it to their districts.”

One of those Democrats, Assemblyman Phil Steck, of Colonie, said he was confident upstate districts will benefit from a Democratic push to boost education and prioritize the foundation aid formula.

“If that is done correctly, it’s going to send the money to where the needs are greatest,” said Steck of the approach he supports. “It’s about fairness for the entire state.”

Steck said he looks forward to having a cohort of new lawmakers in Albany, and that he expects education to remain a top priority for Democrats in both chambers.

“Certainly, education has been the number one priority for Democrats in the Assembly; I don’t know why it would be any different for Democrats in the Senate,” Steck said.

Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, a group that advocates for increased school funding, said he thinks upstate districts – really, all districts – are likely to fare better under a Democratic majority than if Republicans had retained control of the Senate.

“I think there is a fiction that Senate Republicans were fighting for upstate schools,” Easton said. “In fact, they were always prioritizing Long Island suburbs, and they were keeping the overall (school aid) number down.”

Easton said many of the new Democratic senators ran on education funding. He said Democrats should commit to funding as prescribed by the foundation aid formula — which the state is still billions of dollars short of providing. Easton said the majority party could commit to increasing funding — over say three years — to bring funding back in line with what the formula prescribes. Then, he said, lawmakers should look at updating the formula.

“I think you are going to see fair and adequate school funding statewide rise to the top of the agenda,” Easton said. “The more they use foundation aid, the better upstate schools will do.”

Other issues could gain traction

One of the biggest losers in Tuesday’s election may have been the charter school movement, which had long counted Senate Republicans as key allies.

Other issues may see new momentum.

Lowry, of the State Council of School Superintendents, tracks legislative action on behalf of superintendents across the state. He said a bill introduced last session that would prohibit suspensions for the youngest students and force districts to limit other forms of suspension could gain steam.





The superintendents’ association opposed the bill as adding too many new requirements to an issue traditionally left to local districts: student discipline, Lowry said.

But Steck said he supported reforms to student discipline, highlighting suburban districts that don’t offer specialized teaching for students who get suspensions.

He also said he hopes to garner broader interest in bills to expand sex education in schools statewide, specifically to include sexual harassment awareness.

And Tedisco and Steck may even find common ground on an issue that unites lawmakers from both parties: putting an end to the link between student test scores and teacher evaluations.

Tedisco sponsored a bill that would have limited the practice last session. Despite gaining broad traction in both chambers, including passage in the Assembly, Republican leadership in the Senate refused to bring the bill to the floor, in response to concerns from state education officials.

Those same education officials recently extended a moratorium on using student test scores in teacher evaluations. But lawmakers, especially Democrats helped to victory by the teachers unions that support the bill, may be itching to de-couple test scores from evaluations when they return to the Capitol next year.

“What makes a great student is love of learning, not testing,” Steck said. “If we want to have the best student, we need instill a love of learning; testing kills a love of learning, if there’s too much testing.”