Cuomo seeks outside management for chronically failing schools

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, as part of an education package in his proposed budget, is pushing a change that would let New York's education commissioner put management of chronically failing schools into the hands of a third party with authority to trump that of superintendents and elected boards of education.

The last time the state decided to aggressively intervene with a school district was in 2002, when New York assumed control of the Roosevelt school district.

The historic takeover ended up lasting 11 years -- after which some policymakers, frustrated with what they said was a lack of expected progress, said the state never would attempt such a move again.

Last week, in a speech to about 200 people at Farmingdale State College, Cuomo signaled a possible about-face.

"You want to talk about failure in government, you want to talk about the real Albany scandal?" he said. It is "that you knew a school was failing, that you knew it for 10 years, year after year, and you did nothing about it."

There are 178 so-called priority schools, which rank in the bottom 5 percent of schools statewide. Their average graduation rates are under 50 percent, and just 6.2 percent of third- through eighth-grade students are proficient in math.

On Long Island, according to state figures, Roosevelt and Hempstead high schools are among 27 statewide that, since the 2005-2006 school years, have been considered "failing."

A second list, of schools considered failing for three or more years, included Hempstead and Roosevelt high schools, along with middle schools in those districts and in Wyandanch and Central Islip.

"We say that if a school has been failing for three years, try something else," Cuomo said during his speech. "Give it to a nonprofit to manage . . . [or] to another school district to manage -- the state will come in and take it over."

Cuomo's proposal, according to his budget plan, was recommended by the state Education Department and is modeled after a 2010 Massachusetts law that gives failing schools three years to improve or end up in state receivership.

Cuomo's receivership plan is one of several education-related proposals considered to be hard political lifts. The governor also wants to expand the number of charter schools and make changes in teacher tenure and evaluations.

And Cuomo appears to be holding back some school aid funds as a wedge to push his education proposals, even as Albany seeks to find solid ground in the wake of a series of lawmaker arrests and convictions. School districts still are waiting to see how much extra financial aid -- beyond a budgeted 1.7 percent increase -- they may get in the coming year.

Roger Tilles, Long Island's representative to the state Board of Regents, said Friday that he had not seen Cuomo's receivership-related proposal.

"I'm supportive of having people who really know education being able to run districts that are chronically underperforming or having serious management issues," he said.

However, Tilles said he would not favor "something with broad parameters that would fly in the face of what local control is about."

In Roosevelt, the state took over but never exercised full control. This time around, the idea is to give a third party -- be it an individual, a charter, a nonprofit or a neighboring school district, depending on circumstance -- control that would include everything from firing teachers to expanding the school day.

But remember, this is all part of Cuomo's opening move in budget negotiations -- which likely means things will change.