Brooks Affirm Exh 5 - Senate Debate Transcripts

8/6/2019 Brooks Affirm Exh 5 - Senate Debate Transcripts

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SENATE DEBATETRANSCRIPTS

2010CHAPTER 101

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SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you,Mr. President.

I rise today to speak of thischarter school bill. And had we not studiedthis bill, the Assembly Speaker had mentionedlast time when I put my bill out to raise thecap to 460, he said the ink wasn't even dryyet. And that took three days to age. This

bill took no time to age.And we found a ton of mistakes in

this bill, one leaving SUNY out of being oneof the agents that would be authorizingcharter schools. Another one with a cap of2013. It took us 12 years to get 174 schoolsdone. How many more schools do you think wewould have got done by 2013? It will take us20 before we get another 150 schools done.

So we found a lot of mistakes inthis bill. And then we find out that theyleft the for-profits out of this. Could youimagine what we see going on in Harlem, wherewe had all of these great charter schoolsdoing great work, that the public schoolsystem had to go out and find marketingcompanies to bring in marketers to see how

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they could market their product to makeeducation better for children, to be able todo after-schools programs and morning andweekend programs and raise the level of allthe children in our public school system,parochial system and our charter school systemand our private school system.

And that's what this was all about,

is trying to get our children the besteducation that they can get. Ladies andgentlemen, where do you get a corporation thatwants to open up right in the City of NewYork? We've got to beg some companies to comein and we've got to give them all sorts of taxincentives. These companies, these charterschools, when they came in, they paid taxes.They hire hundreds of employees. And guesswhat? They pay real estate taxes, they payemployee taxes, they generate the economics inour communities.

And here we are today throwing outthe for-profits in a charter school bill.What a backward way to go. And we're tryingto get money from the federal government on aRace to the Top? This is not a race to the



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top, ladies and gentlemen. This is slowingprogress down. And we shouldn't have donethis.

Ladies and gentlemen, it may be$700 million. I doubt that we get --

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Golden, how do you vote?

I will be votingENATOR GOLDEN:

no on this bill.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Senator Golden to be recorded in the negative.Senator Saland, to explain his

vote.SENATOR SALAND: Thank you,

Mr. President.On more than one occasion I have

stood up and prefaced my remarks by saying Icertainly welcome the idea of competition inany venue, and education would be included asamong any venue.

My concern with this bill, as theprior bills, is that charter schools are azero-sum game. And as we all know, there's noadditional funding to speak of. And the moneybasically follows the student, including the



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real property tax, that goes from one districtto another in some of these instances.

And I have implored this house totry and provide an element of local control sothat in fact we can do what some 40 percent ofthe other states that have charter schools do,which is have some local input in thesedecisions. And I just want to call your

attention to the fact that the scoring rubricfor Race to the Top actually provides apriority for those applications thatdemonstrate local school district support.

This bill, however, goes on to sayin part -- and I'm looking at page 5 -- inorder to deal to deal with the saturationproblem, which certainly is a problem forcertain districts -- that those who charterin this case, the Board of Regents, until thisbill is amended should seek to locatecharter schools in a region or regions wherethere may be a lack of alternatives and accessto charter schools would provide newalternatives within the local public educationsystem.

I fear what that means,



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particularly since the Race to the Top moneyis primarily Title I money, that small cityschool districts, for those of you whorepresent small city school districts, aregoing to become the next great venue forcharter schools. And again, zero-sum game.No additional money. We now how badly smallcity schools struggle. There are 52 of them

who are faced with enormous problems. And yetthey all in all likelihood will see the nextwave of applications under this legislation.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Saland, how do you vote?

SENATOR SALAND: Mr. PresidentACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Your two minutes are up, Senator Saland. Howdo you vote?

SENATOR SALAND: I vote in thenegative.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Saland to be recorded in the negative.

Senator Oppenheimer, to explain hervote.

SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I would beremiss if I didn't take this opportunity to



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thank certain people who have worked very!very hard on this. And so I want tospecifically thank Chancellor Meryl Tisch andthe Board of Regents and the Department of Ed!state Department! and Commissioner DavidSteiner! who I understand is with us in thegallery! for their leadership and very! veryhard work.

This has been an immense challengefor the teacher organizations that have comeforth and helped and the charter school groupswho have helped.

And as you know! a few weeks ago Ivoted against the charter cap going to 460 inthe bill that was before us. And I did thatbecause I said that there was absolutely noway that I could see any accountability or anytransparency in the bill that would let ushave confidence that people are doing thethings they're supposed to be doing.

So now we have that in this bill.We will be able to see where there areconflicts of interest on the board oftrustees. We are going to have theComptroller audit these various charter

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schools.We were also concerned about the

underserved population, and specifically thatis mentioned here. So we have enrollmenttargets that have to be met and retention ofstudents that are not being well servedbecause they're English-language learners orbecause they're disabled or because they are

poorer children.The co-location, which I mentioned

a couple of weeks ago, also is handled well inthis bill.

And the only thing that's left outwhich had me very concerned, and still does,is the saturation piece.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Oppenheimer, how do you vote?

SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Okay, Ivote yes.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Oppenheimer to be recorded in theaffirmative.

Senator Perkins.SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you,

Mr. Chair. I just want to take a moment to



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explain my vote.I first want to commend all sides

for the hard work that everyone put into thisissue in arriving at this moment.

Obviously, nothing is moreimportant to me than the education of all ofour children. And as I've expressed in thepast and as my hearings have revealed, there

are real challenges, real concerns regardingtransparency and accountability of the charterschools, their accessibility for special edand non-English-speaking students as well aschildren in shelters.

And favoritism of charters over thetraditional public schools is a major concern.They serve a small percentage of our childrenat the expense of public schools that serve90 percent of public school families.

I have said that this bill makesimportant progress in providing independentauditing, making the charter schools moreaccountable and open, and advances New Yorkstate's efforts in the Race to the Top, at atime when people are struggling and our budgetsituation is worse than ever.



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For these reasons and more! I willvote for this compromise. However! this isnot an end to the process. I will continue myhearings to make sure our children are beingserved. We must still better address theissues and problems of co-location andsaturation and the policy of privatizingpublic education! also often at the expense of

traditional public schools and resegregationof the public school system.

I vote aye.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Senator Perkins to be recorded in theaffirmative.

Senator Klein.SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you!

Mr. President.I think this has been certainly a

long road! and unfortunately one that wasfilled with sometimes heightened rhetoric.But I think! thanks to some leadership!especially Chancellor of the Board of RegentsMeryl Tisch and some others! we kept our eyeon the prize.

Whether or not you support charter

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schools -- I certainly do -- whether or notyou support reforming our education system,this was really and always should have beenabout sUbmitting the most competitiveapplication for Race to the Top.

Regardless of the fact of whetheror not money is restored from the budget,which I hope it is, for education, this is

certainly $300 million, maybe $700 million ineducation funding that improves our publicschool system. And for New York not to beable to put in the most competitiveapplication by raising the cap on chartersand by the way, holding charters accountableto the parents, to the teachers is somethingthat's very, very important.

So I'm finally hopeful, even thoughwe're approaching the deadline very, veryquickly, that this legislation that we didhere today will ensure that we're at leastcompetitive and we get our fair share offederal dollars for education here in New YorkState.

I vote yes, Mr. President.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:



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Thank you, Senator.Senator Klein to be recorded in the

affirmative.Senator Huntley, to explain her

vote.SENATOR HUNTLEY: I think

everyone realizes I am definitely a publicschool parent. For years I've supported

public schools.I have many people in my district,

my constituents, who are charter parents. Imet with them, and I feel that parents haverights and choices where they want to sendtheir children. When my children wereattending school, I wanted the right to sendthem wherever I wanted to, and I did have thatright. So therefore, I am going to supportthis.

But I must say this. When we cometo the table anytime to negotiate on charters,to negotiate any educational problem that wehave in the Senate, I would like very much tosay we should include other organizations thatare involved in education, such as DistrictCouncil 37. They playa large role in my



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district, and I think they too should be atthe table.

Thank you.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Senator Huntley to be recorded in theaffirmative.

Senator Diaz, to explain his vote.SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you,

Mr. President. Just to explain that I amexcited about this bill.

And all we wanted was to increasethe charter schools from 200 to 460. In mydistrict, charter schools are a godsend, ablessing from heaven. So I'm a supporter ofcharter schools.

I would like to express myappreciation to the Governor, GovernorPaterson. He never give up. Never give up.He said now we want to increase it, and hestood firm. And today we can say we haveincreased charter schools from 200 to 460.And those many children that were waiting andparents that were praying so they could havean opportunity, today I can go back to mydistrict and say I did it for you, I voted for



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you, we got it, we fought it, praise God,praise be the Lord.

Okay, thank you very much. I amvoting yes. I am voting si. Thank you.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Diaz to be recorded in theaffirmative.

Senator Smith, to explain his vote.

SENATOR SMITH: Yes, thank youvery much, Mr. President.

Let me thank all my colleagues --Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, who sponsored thebill; our leader, Senator Sampson, for hiseffort and for his work. Also, I want tothank Commissioner Steiner, who I know is inthe room, and also Meryl Tisch, for theirwork. But I also want to thank the staff,Kathy Grainger and the Education staff aswell, who did a lot of work.

What we are allowing at this pointis what is crucial to us with regard to Raceto the Top. But keep in mind that 90 percentof that $700 million or whatever we receive,being optimistic, goes to the public schoolsystem.



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This is about charter schools beingavailable and having choice for parents. It'sa good day for our parents. Just as we didwith the Parks Department, we understand that,we recognize what's important to the people ofthe state. And today we made it very clear tothem that we are capable and have the abilityto do the right thing.

So I'll be voting aye. Thank you.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Senator Smith to be recorded in theaffirmative.

Senator Sampson, to close.SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you very

much, Mr. President.I just want to first of all let

everyone know, nothing is more important thanthe investment in our children and improvingtheir opportunities to receive this Race tothe Top funding. Raising the charter cap,reforming charter schools, improving teacherevaluation, and investing in trackingeducational outcomes will give us the neededpoints to not only be in the running but tohopefully win.



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And I really want to thank thechair of Educationr Suzi Oppenheimerr for herleadership to making sure that we are in therunning. And I want to thank you very much.

I also want to thank andcongratulate all of my colleagues for theirclear focus and direction and for theirinvestment in our children.

I also want to take time to thankthe Governor for his commitment anddedicationr Speaker Silverr Mayor Bloomberg.Chancellor Tischr thank you very much for yourcommitment and your dedication. AlsoCommissioner Steinerr thank you very much.And all our partners in the labor movement andin the charter school movement.

But one particular person I reallywant to thankr and that is my friend and mycolleague Senator Perkins for his valuableinsightr his bold leadership of crucialcharter school hearingsr and absolutededication in shaping the debate on chartersto increase transparencYr oversightreducational opportunity for our children. Hebrought it all homer and he allowed all the

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partners to get into the room to get thisthing done.

So I want to thank you very much,because I know you took a lot of heat withrespect to this, Senator Perkins. And if youdid not lay the framework, I don't know if wewould have been at this place today. So Iwant to thank you very much.

But once again, Mr. President, Iwant to thank all my colleagues. We are notonly in the running, but I believe we have anexcellent opportunity to make sure we win Raceto the Top.

Thank you very much.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Senator Sampson to be recorded in theaffirmative.

Senator Adams, to close.SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you,

Mr. President.I too will be voting aye. But I

just wanted to pause for a moment and joinLeader Senator Sampson in just acknowledgingSenator Perkins and Senator VelmanetteMontgomery, because they kept us in line



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around this issue. And again, they took a lotof heat for it.

And those of us who supporteducational opportunities for parents, thoseof us who support charter schools or publicschools, I just really want to thank you,Senator Perkins and Senator Montgomery, formaking us realize we've got to ask the tough

questions.And again, it just goes to show you

why it's so important to have diversity notonly in the makeup of our conference but inthe philosophy of our conference. We're not amonolithic state, so we're not going to all bein line. But if we come together and look atthose tough questions to come up with toughanswers, we can find solutions for ourchildren and ensure they can be on the rightroad of education.

I will be voting aye. And I thankyou also, Senator Johnson, for your workaround this issue as well. I will be votingaye.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Adams to be recorded in the



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affirmative.Announce the results.THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in

the negative on Calendar Number 665 areSenators Farley, Flanagan, Golden, Griffo,o. Johnson, Larkin, LaValle, Libous, McDonald,Nozzolio, Padavan, Saland and Young. AlsoSenator Maziarz.

Ayes, 45. Nays, 14.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

The bill is passed.The Secretary will continue to

read.THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

666, substituted earlier today by Member ofthe Assembly Nolan, Assembly Print Number11171, an act to amend the Education Law.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:The Secretary will ring the bell. The debateis closed.

Read the last section.THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This

act shall take effect immediately.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Call the roll.



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123 O.4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

(TheSecretary called the roll.)THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays,

5 The bill is passed.6 The Secretary will continue to7 read.8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

9 667, substitutedearlier today by the Assembly10 Committee on Rules, Assembly Print Number11 11311, an act to amend the Education Law.12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:13 Read the last section.14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This15 act shall take effect on the same date and in16 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of17 2010.18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:19 Debate is closed. The Secretary will ring the20 bells.21 Call the roll.22 (The Secretary called the roll.)23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:24 Senator Saland, to explain his vote.25 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you,

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Mr. President.Mr. President, I didn't have the

opportunity to complete my remarks earlier.And all I would like to say, this is one ofthe compliance pieces for Race to the Top, andwe have this slavish if not orgasmic pursuitof Race to the Top money. I just want tosomehow or other make this a little more

sobering.Understand that were we fortunate

enough to get the $700 million, it will bepayable over four years. Seventy percent ofit goes to Title I schools; any number ofschool districts will not be eligible for thisfunding. That would amount to probably lessthan 1 percent of what the state spends oneducation, and overall probably a little morethan 3/10 of 1 percent what we spend statewidefor all.

So this is not manna from heaventhat somehow or other is going to miraculouslyrescue us. And every single editorial that Ihave seen has talked about $700 million.There's not going to be $700 million deliveredto our doorstep, even if we succeed. So I



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just want to give you a little more sobering,long-range view. It's just not going to workthat way.

I'm certainly going to supportthis, as I have supported the other compliancemeasures here. But it's not manna fromheaven, and it's not the cavalry coming inover the ridge, as many editorialists would

have you believe. It's just a relativelymodest amount of money to add to our educationefforts.

Thank you, Mr. President.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Senator Saland to be recorded in theaffirmative.

I ask for a little bit of order inthe chamber.

Senator Oppenheimer, to explain hervote.

SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, I'mgoing to do what Senator Saland did and justcontinue what I was saying earlier, in that Ifelt very strongly that we should have a piecefor saturation in these bills. And thesaturation is particularly painful in the



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cities of Albany and Buffalo.And so I am going to be working in

the direction of putting in a stand-alone billon that subject, because they need relief andwe must offer it to them.

I also felt that the for-profitcharters were valuable to us. And I hadsuggested that we put in the same percentage

that we now have going forward, which would beabout 10 percent of all new charters.

I feel that if we had the oversightof the Comptroller doing the audits, I thinkwe can keep a close eye on them.

And lastly, I want to congratulatethe courage that NYSUT and UFT had in thechanging of the evaluation for teachers. Itis a big step forward, and it will be a bigimprovement. And it took a lot of courage andvision for the unions to do that. So Icongratulate them.

I'll be voting aye.ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Senator Oppenheimer will be recorded in theaffirmative.

Announce the results.



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THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays,o .

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:The bill is passed.

Senator Klein, that completes thereading of the controversial supplementalcalendar.

SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, isthere any further business at the desk?

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:Senator Klein, the desk is clear.

SENATOR KLEIN: There being nofurther business, Mr. President, I move thatwe adjourn at the call of the TemporaryPresident, intervening days to be legislativedays.

ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:There being no further business to come beforethe Senate on motion, the Senate standsadjourned at the call of the TemporaryPresident, intervening days being legislativedays.

(Whereupon, at 3:32 p.m., theSenate adjourned.)


Documents

Brooks Affirm Exh 5 - Senate Debate Transcripts