School districts across New York State will increase their per-pupil spending next year by nearly one and a half times the current rate of inflation -- despite falling real estate values and clear signs of an economic slowdown -- according to an analysis issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
Despite the challenge of teaching in an urban school district, Buffalo teachers don’t have to wear their stress on their faces. Their new health benefit package covers cosmetic surgery, courtesy of taxpayers. Read More
Calibrated to the state Senate’s estimate of $135.2 billion in all funds spending under the enacted New York State budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, the Empire Center’s “Spend-O-Meter” spins at the following rates... Read More
Spitzer’s expansion of education funding and restructuring of the school aid formula may be his most important legacy. Unfortunately, C4E has been seriously hobbled by flaws in its assumptions about the mechanisms of reform, by misguided beliefs about “what works” in achieving excellence, and by a compressed timeline for adoption and implementation. Read More
Contracts for Excellence (C4E), the centerpiece of former Governor Eliot Spitzer’s reform agenda for New York state schools in 2007, “could now more accurately stand for Commitments for Expenditures” because of the program’s emphasis on educational inputs over educational outcomes, says a Policy Briefing issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
After fending off a federal tax hike last year, private equity and hedge funds have been mostly immune from the ongoing carnage on Wall Street. That makes them a bigger target than ever for revenue-hungry politicians and interest groups on the state and local level. Read More
Eliot Spitzer had been governor for less than a month when he addressed a crowd of dignitaries at the state Education Department. The department's historic building was an appropriate setting for a historic proposal: pumping more money into public education than ever before, in return for more accountability than ever. Read More
Even before it was over, this year's New York state budget process had devolved into a giant step backward for fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency. Given Albany's already rock-bottom standards in all three areas, this was quite an accomplishment. Read More