Kremer: Don't forget the unfunded mandates

Published: January 9, 2012 5:49 PM
By TIMOTHY G. KREMER

Newsday

Photo credit: TMS Illustration by Nancy Ohanian/ |

Timothy G. Kremer is executive director of the New York State School Boards Association.

In his State of the State speech last week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called for a commission to address school accountability and a new tier in the state pension system. A recent poll of school board members shows that by and large, they walk in lock step with the governor on both of these initiatives. The one area they wanted to hear more about in his speech?

Mandate relief.

Cuomo blasted through New York's infamous political gridlock last year by enacting a property tax cap, legalizing same-sex marriage and negotiating tough with public employee unions. But he left one bit of unfinished business: providing freedom from expensive restrictions that state lawmakers impose upon schools and local governments.

No doubt, the governor's first-year achievements impressed a lot of skeptics, including me. Hopefully, he'll have similar success if and when he directs his attention to the issue of mandate relief, which has stalled in Albany for years as special interests stymie every attempt to change the status quo. Unfunded and underfunded state mandates put local district budgets and many programs on autopilot, pushing school districts and taxpayers toward fiscal disaster.

Just like the governor, school board members want to increase productivity, innovate and manage for results. Yet their hands are tied by a thicket of state and federal directives that require them to spend taxpayer dollars in certain ways.

For example, state law requires school districts to pay employees raises even after a contract expires. On Long Island alone, these increases amount to an estimated $26 million per year in automatic payouts to employees, leaving little incentive for them to negotiate a successor contract. That's why Cuomo should pressure lawmakers to reform the state's Triborough Amendment.

Special education is another area ripe for savings. New York State has about 200 mandates that go above and beyond federal requirements, according to a Commission on Property Tax Relief report. The state's system has become outdated, overly complex and costly. Long Island schools spent more than $30,000 per special-education pupil in 2008-09, compared with about $13,000 on general-education peers. While some of these requirements may be good public policy, surely we can revisit them to see if they make sense for students and taxpayers. For example, state law requires that any time a school district faces a legal contest in a special education matter, the burden of proof lies with the district. In other legal actions, the burden of proof resides with the parties bringing the lawsuit. It's a costly requirement for taxpayers.

Then there's purchasing. The state mandates a competitive bidding process over a threshold amount, and while it allows schools to piggyback on some state, federal and county contracts, New York is the only state that doesn't allow schools to piggyback on contracts let by other states and by local governments. Nor can schools use national purchasing cooperatives and so-called buy-back boards that could save money (think eBay on a grand scale). Schools spend billions of dollars annually and purchase big-ticket items such as buses, computers and furniture. Let's open the global marketplace up to schools, with protections in place to ensure that taxpayers get the best value. Doing so could save up to $125 million for Long Island's schools.

Last year, the New York State School Boards Association introduced a fiscal reform plan with specific details on each of these initiatives and illustrated the potential cost savings. But they all require changes to state law. And opposition from powerful special interests in Albany has been a constant hurdle.

But consider this: With the savings from these initiatives, New York schools will be much better positioned to stay comfortably under the property tax cap while helping students meet rising expectations. The cost savings could allow schools to put more money into tutoring, language programs, music or art classes, and other academic programs that benefit students, as well as programs that keep kids safe and engaged after the school day ends.

If the governor can achieve mandate relief, he will have accomplished something that none of his predecessors could do: Stand up to Albany's entrenched status quo and let local leaders better serve their communities.

If anybody can do it, Andrew Cuomo can.