Board of ed member reports on both state-wide and local efforts to lobby for mandate reform

December 16, 2011
by Christine Yeres

Board of Ed member Vicky Tipp reported to board members on the Westchester Putnam School Board Association Legislative Advocacy Committee meeting she attended.  The committee’s goal this year is to agree on two or three mandate reform issues on which to concentrate their lobbying efforts this year and announced the group’s schedule of meetings with legislators in both Albany and Washington.

Committee members noted, Tipp said, “that this year there’s been a real groundswell of many community groups—the New York State School Board Association; the Lower Hudson Council of Superintendents; the regional PTA; “Let New York Work,” a coalition of municipal and business groups from across the State; and many ad hoc community groups as well—collaborating to lobby legislators.”

The Legislative Advocacy Committee means to compose a regional legislative playbook, said Tipp, on the two or three issues for communities to adopt or revise as they see fit, then join in visiting lawmakers in both Albany and Washington.

The committee’s schedule follows:

February 5: Federal relations network conference, briefings with NY Senators and House representatives

March 8: West-Put will have a legislative forum, meetings with New York legislators for a Q & A

March 11: State legislative network in Albany

March 22: Reports by the committee on their meetings with Washington and Albany legislators

Tipp reported that he committee is also studying “the section in the Tax Cap legislation on a Mandate Relief Council, which provides a procedure for school districts and local governments to request a review, a modification or repeal of mandates that are deemed unduly burdensome or unsound.” The committee may create forms for such petitions for relief and learn how to negotiate the process, Tipp said.

Jeffrey Mester: Vicky, Karen and I attended a meeting of a local ad hoc group affiliated with “Let New York Work.”  If you’re interested in joining a local group doing their own advocating, contact [New Castle resident] Judy McGrath [judy.mcgrath1@gmail.com].

Board President Alyson Kiesel wondered aloud to board members whether school boards could ever agree on two or three most-important issues to address.

Mester: Triborough, tenure . . .

Karen Visser: I think what we came away with from that meeting was that the big issues, the labor-related issues, are not going to be the ones that we’re going to change.  So the things that we could change were smaller, background items.

Mester:  Yes, Bill Mooney [a coalition member of “Let New York Work”] was talking about taking incremental change any way you can get it.  Significant structural changes are going to be much harder and have a low probability of success.

Tipp: On the other hand, if you’re doing a lot of work putting in a lot of effort for not much financial gain, then there’s maybe no point in doing it…

Mester: But just because there’s a likelihood of its not-happening doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

Keisel: It calls attention to the issues, regardless.