To be effect in Albany, you have to pick your battles carefully and then have the focus to get your ideas translated into law. Anna Sterne will promote Paperwork Reduction to reduce wasteful spending and taxes and concentrate funding on the classroom and the athletic field.
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) recommends cutting the number of reports required of school districts from 112 to 22. That is an 80% drop. The school year in New York State is 180 days, if a school district has to file every one of these reports that is 3 reports every week during the entire school year.
The NYSED made this recommendation in 2003 in a document entitled, A Proposal on Planning and Reporting by New York State School Districts for the Strategic Use of School Resources for School Improvement. Why has there been no action to implement such a common sense proposal? The voting record shows that the measure has failed in the New York State Assembly for five years running. Anna Sterne will fight to get legislation passed that reduces unneeded reports. She is going to focus on passing School District Paperwork Reduction.
Eliminating unnecessary and unused reporting is a win-win way to cut administrative costs at both the local and State levels and re-allocate the savings to the classroom and athletic field. Or lower taxes. “These reports are costly, time consuming and often, unnecessary, redundant and pointless. Simply put, they do nothing to improve student achievement (original emphasis). On the contrary, they often take away time from instruction and support to students”, according to M. John G. Metallo, Superintendent of Schools, Middleburgh Central School District in the 2003 NYSED report.
Anna Sterne is a Member of the The Westchester-Putnam Schools Boards Association Legislative Committee, which represents 50 suburban school districts. Anna Sterne will be the only Member of the New York State Assembly with experience serving on a suburban school board. She will bring that experience to bear in Albany where many unnecessary reports are mandated without the input of local school districts. Since school property taxes are so high and increasing, reducing every unnecessary cost as a way of cutting taxes is a priority in the 92nd Assembly District.
The link to the NYSED report is
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/mgtserv/streamlining/docs/Report_to_Legislature_June1.pdf
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