February 2008 - E-Newsletter

The Schott Foundation for Public Education seeks to develop and strengthen a broad-based and representative movement to achieve fully-resourced, high quality pre-kindergarten to grade 12 public education.

We all know that providing students with a high quality public education requires sufficient funding. This allows school systems to: recruit and retain qualified educators, maintain adequate educational facilities, and provide students with up-to-date pedagogical materials. We are encouraged by the priority that Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is giving public education in his 2009 budget. He calls for generous increases for public education programs, especially pre-K programs. Unfortunately, in New York, efforts are now underway to roll back the budgetary gains for public education that were achieved after years of battling for them in the New York court system. The NY power brokers looking to diminish the much needed school funding would benefit by making Governor Patrick's budgetary philosophy their own: "...Offering our young people a world-class education is fundamental to their individual economic success and to the Commonwealth's global competitiveness, we treat education as a priority in this budget."

- Dr. John H. Jackson

Boston, MA - MA Governor's 2009 budget includes a significant increase in funding toward universal pre-kindergarten education.

Despite facing a $1.3 billion deficit, Governor Patrick seeks to increase funding for the Department of Early Education and Care by 10.3 percent. This increase for early education programs include: a $15 million increase in the Massachusetts Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program, an $8.38 million increase in the Kindergarten Expansion Grant Program, a $1.2 million increase in professional development for early educators, and a $260,000 increase in Access Management.

Click here to read more.

New York, NY - The Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) urges New York officials to restore necessary funds to meet 2008 school aid obligation.

In testimony presented to New York's Senate Finance Committee and the State Assembly Ways and Means Committee, CFE called on the legislature to provide $1.25 billion in classroom operating aid, restoring $350 million to the proposed executive budget. CFE urged the legislature to fine tune the school foundation aid formula to ensure predictability in funding for the most vulnerable students. The Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) and CFE have created a "Keep the Promises" coalition to hold state officials accountable for the school funding previously promised to New York public schools.

Click here to read more.

Cambridge, MA - Stand for Children's Massachusetts' affiliate launches ambitious 2008 Campaign for Children.

Stand for Children members from over 65 MA communities seek to unite as one voice in the Campaign for Children - to ensure children’s needs are prioritized by Massachusetts lawmakers and leaders. The Campaign calls for:

Immediate financial relief - so that a million Massachusetts children receive aid for education that is five years overdue. Reform – because Massachusetts schools need system-wide change and the revenue to sustain it. And, innovation – so that programs improve and the achievement gap is closed.

Click here to learn more about the Campaign.

New York, NY - The Public Advocate for the City of New York finds women students falling behind their male peers in NYC's Career and Technical Education (CTE) high schools.

At 18 of the high schools, females comprised only 41 percent of the student population, and several schools favored male enrollment, according according to a new report from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Schools that had greater female populations lacked advanced placement classes, e.g., in math and science. Addressing these gender inequalities, Gotbaum said, is important now because the administration wants to expand the program.

Click here to read more.

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The Schott Foundation currently has openings for an administrative assistant (click here for the full job description) and a program coordinator (click here for the full job description).

www.schottfoundation.org

617.876.7700 ph

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