Petrie to Present Public Address On Governor's Special Commission On Education

Release Date: February 2, 1994 This content is archived.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Hugh G. Petrie, professor and dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo and a member of the New York State Special Commission on Educational Structure, Policies and Practices, will discuss the findings of the commission at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3, in 17 Baldy Hall on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The talk is free of charge and open to the public.

Among those expected to be in the audience are a number of Western New York public school superintendents, and students, faculty and alumni of the Graduate School of Education.

The state commission issued its report to the governor on Dec. 21. Petrie's dissenting opinion received statewide press coverage at the time.

Among the commission's recommendations were more support for innovative school practices through grants and the waiving of regulations, greater early childhood education and services to families in the schools, new standards for special education and movement toward a single diploma for high school graduates.

It also recommended streamlining disciplinary procedures for tenured school district staff and placing a limit on increases in spending for districts operating under an austerity budget. Under the proposal, a school district would have to adopt an austerity budget if voters rejected a school budget twice.

Although he supported the commission's recommendations, Petrie maintained that the report didn't go far enough in proposing how the state should pay for the recommended changes. The commission suggested no new taxes or ways in which to redirect money already spent on education. Petrie said that meant the report essentially continues "business as usual" in the state because it failed to acknowledge the cost to the schools of such things as early childhood education and expanded social services to families.

He also pointed out that the commission called for no change in the fragmented state school system. Unlike most states, New York gives no single person, agency or branch of government the responsibility for running the state's nearly 4,000 primary and secondary schools. The authority to set policy, establish school-aid levels and mandate programs is divided among the governor, the state legislature and the state's Board of Regents.

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