The most instructive claim in the report released yesterday by Gov. Cuomo’s education-reform panel is also, alas, the most obvious: Fixing New York’s schools is “a complex challenge.”
Uh, no kidding.
Actually, “Sisyphean” is probably a better word for it.
But it’s just as obvious that the schools need fixing — desperately.
So it’s certainly good to see that the panel, chaired by former Citigroup Chairman Dick Parsons, is taking the issue seriously and offering solid ideas that might spark a useful discussion as to how to move forward.
Start with the group’s analysis of the current state of the schools: “New York lacks an effective ‘system’ of education,” the report said — which is hardly news, but so troubling it can’t be said often enough.
The report cited several positives in the schools but argued that “more often than not, these components lack collaboration and alignment, which stifles progress toward the state’s overarching goal — to prepare all students for college and career.”
The panelists noted, appropriately, that while New York “spends more money per student than any other state,” it is “not seeing enough return on investment.
New York, it said, “lags” most states in graduation rates — with just 74 percent of kids graduating high school in four years.
And only 35 percent make it out properly prepared for college or a career.
What to do?
As a first step, the panel proposed a host of worthy recommendations. (It’s planning a second round of ideas later this year.) Among its suggestions yesterday, the panel would:
* Extend kindergarten for a full day.
* Lengthen the academic year.
* Have schools offer more social services to needy kids.
* Make better use of technology.
* Beef up admissions standards for education-school students.
* Use a tougher exam — one like the lawyers’ bar — to certify teachers.
Some of these ideas might make a difference. But many come with steep price tags, and, as the panel acknowledges, New York’s outlay per student is already tops in the nation. Moreover, budgets here are stretched to the max.
Again, systemic failures in public education in this state were probably easy for the panel to spot.
The trick is to figure out how to address them without adding massive new costs.
And getting the unions to go along.
No question — it’s a huge hurdle.
But also a critical one.
Cuomo and the panel are to be saluted, and encouraged, for attempting it.