R.E.A.D.

1. R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

2. R.E.A.D. • PURPOSE: TO REACQUAINT ALL DISTRICTS TO THE • HISTORY AND ADVOCACY ROLE OF READ • AGENDA: • WELCOME by Dr. Tom Higgins • PRESENTATION by Dr. James Langlois on Boards and Advocacy; • HISTORY OF READbyDr. Dan McCann • PANEL PRESENTATION of board members and superintendents, followed by question and answer session Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

3. R.E.A.D. Dr. James Langlois ADVOCACY How do you translate concerns into action? Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

4. R.E.A.D. HISTORY OF READ READ IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS ESTABLISHED A WORKING PARTERSHIP BETWEEN LOCAL BOARDS OF EDUCATION AND SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

5. In 2004 four neighboring local school districts  joined together to consider issues of mutual  concern and come up with solutions.  A  dedicated advocacy group of board members and superintendents meet each month to  discuss and respond to legislative issues like:  • Fair and sufficient funding for all  districts • Relief from state and federal  mandates • More effective local school board  function and control • Relief from standardized tests • READ has since expanded to five districts in Northern Westchester and Putnam Counties – Brewster, Croton-Harmon, Garrison, Haldane, and Hendrick Hudson. R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

6. R.E.A.D. The five READ districts represent over 50,000 residents, 8,000 students and about $200 Million spending on schools. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

7. MISSION • READ’s goal is to improve public education by combining the vision, talents, and resources of neighboring districts to advocate among: • Local, state, and national legislators • Media • State-wide associations and groups • The local community • READ also serves as a forum where school boards and administrations in the region can discuss issues of mutual concern. R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

8. MISSION • READ has concentrated on three issues in the past year: • Rolling back unfunded mandates, by making lawmakers aware of their actual costs • Sharing cost saving ideas among the READ districts • Getting help to pay for the TRS and ERS pension fund shortfalls that resulted from Wall Street’s problems R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

9. READ has calculated the cost of unfunded mandates like excessive state testing requirements, and lawyer’s bills required to administer special education, for each of the read districts: • The current best estimate is that standardized tests require an additional $3 Million yearly for the READ districts • The READ districts spend about $180,000 every year on lawyers to administer the highly-adversarial and elaborate Special Education system. R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

10. READ has totaled the costs added by unfunded state and federal mandates. They amount to about 17% of local school budgets: Source: READ districts plus Briarcliff, Chappaqua, Lakeland and White Plains. 2008 Budgets in Millions of Dollars R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

11. The most expensive unfunded mandates are for special ed, transportation, and NCLB: Source: READ districts plus Briarcliff, Chappaqua, Lakeland and White Plains. 2008 Budgets R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

12. READ’s summary of the cost of transportation mandates has been cited by the Suozzi Commission on property tax relief as an illustration of the costs faced by districts across New York State R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

13. READ has helpedcollate and coordinate member districts cost-saving and revenue-generating efforts: R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

14. READ has helpedcollate and coordinate member districts cost-saving and revenue-generating efforts: R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

15. Partly as a result of these economies, voters approved READ district budgets at the 2009 budget vote, during the worst recession in years. R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

16. READ’s most pressing concern is the state ERS and TRS pension funds, which took a big hit from the financial market. The local districts now have to make this loss good. We don’t know yet how bad the charge will be, but the Dow Jones average at one point was down almost -50% from its peak in 2007. One READ district, Hendrick Hudson, has provided rough preliminary estimates of the impact of a range of possible increases, as follows: R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

17. READ calls for reform of the pension system by • Spreading the upcoming charges over several years (without the current 9% yearly interest charge) • Starting a new ‘Tier 5’ to control future pension commitments (as Governor Patterson has already proposed) • Applying some federal aid to this issue R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

18. READ members have spread the word about these issues to our elected representatives, the media, and to the state and county School Boards Associations. Senator Leibell 3 Meetings NYSSBA 3 Resolutions Adopted At State-wide Conventions 2 Articles Assemblywoman Galef 4 Meetings R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

19. Brewster Central School District 30 Farm to Market Road Brewster, NY 10509 Superintendent Dr. Jane Sandbank jsandbank@brewsterschools.org 845-279-8000 President of Board of Education Dr. Stephen Jambor oehan@aol.com Croton-Harmon Union Free School District 10 Gerstein Street Croton-On-Hudson, NY 10520 Superintendent Dr. Edward R. Fuhrman Jr. efurhman@croton-harmonschools.org President of Board of Education Karen Zevin kzevin@croton-harmonschools.org Garrison Union Free School District 1100 Route 9D, Garrison, NY 10524 Superintendent Gloria Colucci gcolucci@gufs.org Phone: 845-424-3689 President of Board of Education Anita Prentice aprentice@gufs.org R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

20. Haldane Central School District 15 Craigside Drive Cold Spring, NY 1051 Superintendent Dr. Mark Villanti* mvillanti@haldane.lhric.org (845) 265-9254 Ext. 115 President of Board of Education David Merandy dmerandy@earthlink.net Hendrick Hudson Central School District 61 Trolley Road Montrose, NY 10548 Superintendent Dr. Daniel McCann* 914-736-5200 dmccann@henhudschools.org President of Board of Education Marion Walsh mwalsh@henhudschools.org * READ Co-Chairs for 2009=2010 Website: http://www.READ1.Org R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

21. PANELISTS: • Karen Zevin, BOE President, Croton-Harmon Union Free School District; • Trustee and Past President Joe Curto, BOE, Haldane Central School District; • Dan McCann, Superintendent, Hendrick Hudson Central School District; • Jane Sandbank, Brewster Central School District; Moderator, Mark Villanti, Haldane CSD R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

22. QUESTIONS: • Several of the School Board members in attendance today are first year Board members. What advice can you give them concerning becoming involved in advocacy? R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

23. QUESTIONS: • Dan McCann walked us through the history of READ. What would you identify as the major successes of the organization and why? R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

24. QUESTIONS: • There are many organizations that School Board members can potentially be involved in. What are the different groups and the differences between them? R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

25. QUESTIONS: • What are the “hot issues” this year for your district and potentially for READ that require advocacy? R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts

26. QUESTIONS: • Questions from audience … R.E.A.D. Regional Educational Advocacy Districts