Good Morning. Welcome and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to be with us this morning. Today offers me the opportunity to share with you where we are as a District and to talk about where we are going in the future. This is a very important time for us all, not only students, families and staff, but the entire city.
SAY YES
The cold reality of today is that education budgets are shrinking while student and family needs are growing. Not only is our budget becoming smaller, but our community partners who have provided social services are seeing cuts as well. We have responded by implementing Say Yes to Education. In this difficult year, the Board of Education has not wavered in its financial commitment. They understand the current and future impact on the lives of our students and to this City. And because of their commitment, Say Yes is healthy. Here are some examples:
1. This year Say Yes supports will begin in 18 elementary schools in the Henninger quadrant, covering three quarters of our City with over 4,000 students receiving extra support.
2. In our elementary schools, we have added social workers to help students and families work through the social and emotional barriers that can impede academic progress.
3. We have also increased health and wellness services so that our students are safe, healthy and ready to learn each and every day. We will work collaboratively with the County to enroll every child in a health care insurance plan. After our “Workouts” at Frazer and Dr. King last spring, we know it’s possible.
4. Two more free legal clinics will open in the Henninger quadrant, bringing the total to six clinics available to assist families with legal matters that may interfere with their child’s ability to succeed in school.
5. Our new Data Dashboard will provide teachers, counselors, social workers, nurses, and administrators with online information for every student. This electronic Dashboard, along with the Say Yes student mentoring system, will drive improved instruction and support. We thank Deputy Superintendent Anita Murphy and her team for making this tool easy for teachers and families.
6. The school day and school year have been extended, and we are providing learning and enrichment opportunities for our students after school. The summer Say Yes program was a resounding success with over 1,800 students participating, thanks to Debra Schoening, Rachael Gazdick, our principals, staff, and a legion of college students.
7. We are implementing a Pathways Program at the middle school level so that our middle school students stay on track after elementary school. This Pathways Program will be aligned with our high school program to ensure a sequential and consistent Pre-K–12 education. This collaborative effort between Say Yes and Syracuse University is supported by the Ford Foundation. We thank Brian Nolan and Gene Chasin for their tireless efforts.
8. Another great partner is the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, supported by Wegmans. Their success in getting students to graduate is unparalleled. They currently work with 700 students, next year with 950 students, and then 1,200 students. Make no mistake, they have the right formula.
9. On Point picks up where they leave off in getting students to college and helping them to graduate. We have many other valued partners. Like the County that saved the student assistant counselors. Their committed efforts to a common goal are unprecedented.
10. The Say Yes College Compact is available to all of our graduating seniors who have been with us since the 10th grade. More than 1,000 graduating seniors have taken advantage of the tuition waivers and scholarships in the past two years. Our graduates have over 100 different colleges and universities from which to choose.
We will be enhancing our scholarship endowment program to raise money to support our students and to help them realize that the dream of going to college is not a dream, but a reality. This has to be a community wide movement supported by everyone. We will be looking for small donations of $5 and $10 dollars, as well as larger corporate and family donations.
George Weiss has committed to back stopping our scholarships but we, as a community, now must show even greater effort.
URBAN TRANSFORMATION
All of these supports are the foundation for the true transformation of urban education, and we are the leaders of this transformation. No one has ever done this district wide. Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey and Say Yes came to us a few years ago with a 20 year track record with small cohorts of students. There are four Say Yes chapters and oddly there are six cities in the United States named Syracuse, but there is only one Say Yes Syracuse. It is time that we take greater ownership of this city wide initiative. We must all have “skin in the game.” We cannot afford to be spectators.
A. I am asked “Well, what else is there besides Say Yes?” as if there is “another” program and we should follow the ill advised urban strategy of jumping from one program to the next. There is nothing else – all initiatives fit under the Say Yes umbrella. Our common goal is all children completing post secondary education.

B. “Then show me the research that it’s working.” It has worked in other places, but honestly no city has done it city wide. We are in the early stages. We have only added services for a year and a half and not to all 21,000 of our students. It is like planting a tree and every day pulling it up by its roots to see if it’s growing.

Say Yes has been pinched and prodded and put under a microscope since it started. We are totally transparent, but don’t confuse transparency with immediate results. We will adapt as we find even better ways to accomplish our goals, but we don’t need to be in a constant state of search. We need to implement what we said we would.

C. “Well what about kids not going to college?” I have two answers:
1) Come with me to any kindergarten class in the city and show me which students. 2) We are building a technical/vocational high school and are placing vocational programs in high schools, but those students still need post secondary work.

D. “Well, what happens when you leave or other leadership positions change?” This is not about me or any one leader. It’s about a city owning the results of its children’s success or their failure. This is not the program of the day. No city has truly embraced the mission of raising children from poverty to post secondary education completion. No blueprint exists, no silver bullet. We have the pieces of success; they are all in Say Yes’s theory of action. What we must do is scale up and sustain for the long haul.
Even our greatest partner, Syracuse University, and its leader Nancy Cantor understand it’s not about her. She is building a system to sustain while she scales it to all parts of the University. Our success lies not in individual leaders but in the shared responsibility by our entire city.
ACADEMIC
Many of you are aware of the new scoring system set forth by the New York State Education Department with regard to the Grades 3-8 ELA and math assessments. While I do not agree with how this was implemented, we are in favor of raising the standards for all children. We support the overall New York State reform agenda – an agenda we had already begun. We are excited about New York State securing Race to the Top funding. This agenda includes a more challenging curriculum that will be statewide, better training and accountability for teachers and principals, and a world class data system.
I have worked in the New York State system for nearly forty years, and I have seen many transitions to new tests. One commonality is that every time urban students do better, it is decided that something is wrong with the test – every time. Fortunately, our goal is not test scores but high school and college completion. We have never been satisfied with our overall scores, but we have seen repeated growth over time. Our students have made progress on the ELA and math tests over the past four years. The same tests, scored the same way, show it.
Students and teachers were responding to the rules and tests put before them, and they responded with a growth rate better than the State average. Recently it was announced that Regents exams are scored too easy. Nonsense. I have posted both the Algebra and English Regents online. You tell me if they’re too easy.
We have had many accomplishments this past school year. We saw three of our schools removed from the New York State SURR list, and no schools were added for the first time in many years. The Urban Teacher Calendar (UTC) model, which enables teachers to work with students and to receive professional development, was implemented in all 33 schools. The English as a Second Language (ESL) program continues to grow on an almost daily basis. Our English Language Learner population makes up an astounding 14% of our school population – double what it was four years ago. In order to accommodate all new students, we have opened Newcomer classrooms. In an effort to better reach all of our students, we have completely revamped our alternative programs. We expanded our Pre-K by adding five full day classes. Pre-K is one of the most fundamental ways to ensure that the achievement gap is closed.
In an effort to better help individual schools reach their goals, the District and Say Yes have conducted site reviews at every building. This often critical but helpful review is guiding our transformation.
Chris Vogelsang’s Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment division has prioritized the 4-Tiered Framework, Collaborative Coaching, PBIS and Courageous Conversations about race as Districtwide implementation projects. No small task and no more pilot programs!
We have already begun to put in place some of the changes that align with the State reform agenda. We have been working with the Syracuse Teachers Association (STA) and its new president Kevin Ahern, as well as Jim Cannon and Brian Nolan of the Syracuse Association of Administrators and Supervisors (SAAS) to implement an evaluation system based on performance. We will use differentiated professional development because we recognize that our teachers’ and administrators’ individual needs will vary from classroom to classroom and building to building.
CONSTRUCTION
The Joint Schools Construction Project is finally getting underway. In the first phase we will complete renovations at Fowler, Dr. Weeks, the Institute of Technology, and H. W. Smith. Work is scheduled to begin this fall, winter, and spring. Each of these schools will provide teachers, students and families with a 21st Century “green” learning environment and will provide stability by continuing to serve as the cornerstones of their respective neighborhoods.
The former Syracuse Developmental Center will provide needed swing space for our 15-year construction plan. We have an amazing site, State Education approval and funding, and all the legal work complete. Nothing will deter us from getting this done. We need to treat the developers as partners, not adversaries.
Blodgett School renovation should no longer be delayed but brought into Phase I by the JSCB. The money is available for the first phase of work without any local taxpayer dollars. Our students and staff and the near Westside community deserve it. There is a transformation taking place in that neighborhood with over 30 new homes being built and the addition of ProLiteracy and WCNY, yet there is no work being done on the school.
We have also begun the City Master Planning process which will enable us to transition into Phase II seamlessly. We will utilize this planning tool in order to make the best decisions and policies regarding future school utilization. We have set up a Steering Committee consisting of members of the Board of Education and the Common Council, as well as parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members. This Committee will develop recommendations, garner community wide support, and ensure that equity and fairness are maintained.
We will miss Nick DiBello, our long time dedicated head of Facilities who retired in July. His guidance served us well and we wish him only the best. Soon Tom Ferrara, working tirelessly in this new role, will take the District through this incredible transformation. He is certainly up to the challenge.
OPERATIONS/PERSONNEL/FISCAL
Deputy Superintendent Jaime Alicea and the staff in the Operations and Business Department are to be applauded for their hard work. We have implemented a Districtwide security system that includes a single point of entry at every building. The Health Services Department did an outstanding job during the H1N1flu virus scare, overseeing 11 community wide health clinics. They also worked in collaboration with Say Yes and the County Health Department on the health insurance initiative at Dr. King and Frazer.
Our percentage of certified teachers is now up to 96%. The Personnel Department worked hard to fairly reduce 250 positions, with only 40 layoffs and shrinking. Our incentive program was not only cost effective but also encouraged retirements.
Our fiscal management strategy and planning continues to be of the utmost importance. Our Board of Education has provided the vision and support; the Business Journal CFO of the Year, Suzanne Slack, and her team have done a masterful job. For three consecutive years we have spent less than was budgeted, between 2 and 5 percent. We have grown our fund balance to nearly $30 million, but this year we were forced to use more than half of our fund balance and still cut 250 positions. We received public acknowledgement from State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli for our work on the Office of the State Comptroller Audit. We also worked closely with City Hall on medical and prescription drug third party administration, saving an estimated $4 million combined. Staff in our Information and Technology, Fiscal Services, and Personnel Departments have all been working extremely hard on the PeopleSoft implementation. PeopleSoft technology will dramatically improve and increase efficiency across all sectors of our business operations.
Unfortunately the fiscal future does not look promising for the 2011–12 school year. In October, I will bring a revenue report to the Board of Education and the public to accelerate the budget process. We will use the December findings of the Master Plan and Educational Resource Services (ERS) to help build our budget. We are losing federal aid next year including ARRA, Title I, and IDEA. These federal dollars helped save jobs and programs in a very difficult time, but they are not recurring.
Our State Aid will continue to diminish until the formula is rectified. You may recall that the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) decision mandated a change, but Syracuse received only $37 million of a promised $85 million, and it has been further reduced by $11 million this year. We may have to assist a community group in filing a lawsuit against the State to get our students what they need and deserve.

GENERATION YES
As you will see in a few minutes, our students, teachers, and administrators have been involved in community projects in our City and around the world for quite some time. I am extremely proud of their willingness to give back to our community. They have raised money and awareness for countless organizations including Vera House, Pennies for Patients, McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy, United Way, Food Bank of CNY, and the Salvation Army. This year we will expand this service learning and make it a part of our curriculum starting at the Pre-K level. We are calling it Generation Yes! Generation Yes is a network of service opportunities that will help students understand that contributing to the wellbeing of their community is not an option, but an expectation. Students will become even more actively engaged in their communities. Generation Yes is modeled after Syracuse University’s “Scholarship in Action” which the Chancellor has championed for years. We thank them for the assistance and David Maynard and Rachael Gazdick for bringing this initiative to the core of our mission.
CLOSING
In closing, let me once again state that we are not now, nor have we ever been, satisfied with our academic standing. But I am proud of the growth that has been made and the direction the District is heading. Our goals and expectations far exceed where we are.
We know that if we provide the supports and incentive, our children can succeed at a much higher level. That is why we have partnered with Bryant and Stratton, SUNY ESF, Le Moyne College, Onondaga Community College, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Upstate, Syracuse University, and Say Yes to Education. That is why we have extended the learning day and school year. That is why we have begun to totally transform our District.
When we were first approached by Say Yes it was about “new money, spent differently” then it was about “the same money, spent differently” and now it’s about “less money, spent differently.” We need to recommit to the Say Yes Syracuse Plan. We need to own it and — yes — sacrifice for it. It’s our collective responsibility. To do less fails our children and dooms our city.
Thank you.

Daniel G. Lowengard
Superintendent