State budget woes loom over teacher training centers

Albany's budget woes are jeopardizing the more than 130 teacher centers throughout New York State, including more than 40 on Long Island, that provide resources and professional training for teachers that is required by the state.

The state teachers' union is lobbying to save them.

NYSUT president Richard C. Iannuzzi said $35 million for teacher centers was not included in the state spending plan agreed to by the Legislature. Cutting the program could mean unemployment for hundreds of teacher center employees statewide.

"In the environment we are in, where it is so critical that teachers stay up-to-date with their profession, and given all the talk about reforms and new approaches, teacher centers are the fundamental place for that kind of support and professional development," he said.

The centers provide the 175 hours of professional development required every five years for teachers certified after 2004. School districts may have to pick up this responsibility if centers close, union officials confirmed. The independently run nonprofit centers serve public and private schools and offer programs such as how to use new standards, curricula and assessments.

"It is important for us to keep our teachers up to date and teacher centers are one way to do that," said Robert Aloise, superintendent of the North Babylon School District.

Jessica Bassett, spokeswoman for the State Division of Budget, said it's doubtful such funding will be restored. "A number of worthy programs have been cut this year . . . with reductions in every single part of the budget, including education."

Iannuzzi said some teacher center positions may be restored under the federal jobs bill expected to be considered Wednesday, but state funds would be required for full operations.

"Even if that passes, it will allow for some staff to be able to remain, but any of the other dollars that teacher centers use to run programs and to provide materials and pay instructors would not be restored," he said.

Established in 1984, teacher centers work with more than 685 public school districts and more than 1,000 nonpublic and charter schools. They were funded this year in part with federal stimulus money. The state's Race To The Top application for hundreds of millions in federal dollars notes a reliance on teacher centers to improve teaching skills.

Contributions from Intel, Verizon, Microsoft and others to teacher centers more than double the state's $35 million investment in teacher training, state union officials said.

"This is a very regrettable situation," said Martha Kennelly, director of Mid-East Suffolk Teacher Center, which serves 21 Long Island districts. "We are a low-cost ticket item in the New York State budget and . . . all these things that have been developed and nurtured will be lost."