WPCNR FOR THE RECORD. March 23, 2006: Here is a text of the statement on the school budget made by Marjorie Davies at the Public Hearing on the School Budget at Education House Monday evening.

Marjorie Davies, Co-President, White Plains League of Women Voters addressing the Board of Education. Photo, WPCNR News

Good evening, I am Marjorie Davies, co-president of the White Plains League of Women Voters.

I want to thank the Board of Education for this opportunity to speak tonight on the Proposed School Budget for the 2006-2007 school year. I also thank the school district for the opportunity for community representatives, including two members of the League to learn about the budget and participate in the budget development process through the Annual Budget Committee.

We are fortunate to live in a community whose school budget voters support the efforts to educate our city’s children by passing the school budget. The League recognizes the challenges in educating a diverse student population and the need to maintain small class sizes. The district is justifiably proud of its efforts and success in meeting this challenge. League members often cite this very diversity as a reason for selecting White Plains as the place to live.

Having expressed our support for the schools, we also wish to share our concern for the future if the district loses the support of the voters because of tax increases approaching 10%. Recognizing that salaries and fringe benefits constitute over 76% of district expenses, we urge the Board of Education to take a hard look at future contract negotiations. The overall salary of 4.2% (although lower than most years) exceeds increases received by most of us. We also hope the Board will continue to explore ways to tie increases to performance.

Likewise, health care costs need to be borne to a greater extend by employees either by a larger contribution to the premium or by an increased co-pay to reduce the overall cost of coverage. These steps reflect a growing trend for both current employees and retirees.

The concern of the League of Women Voters over the years for the need to evaluate the effectiveness of school district programs continues. Although there is discussion of this issue, we do not see how the stated priorities of the Board in “Utilizing data in the decision-making process” or to “Undertake program evaluation for cost effectiveness and efficiency” are reflected in this budget. As we said last year, there is an urgent need to be sure the time and energy of the staff is actually producing measurable gains by the students. Overlapping layers of teachers and programs need to be examined also.

We hope the district is involved in lobbying efforts on many fronts to achieve better management of the Teachers’ Retirement System which has required huge increases in contributions.

In regard to the proposed bond vote for capital improvements, the League urges the school district to give serious thought to ways to better inform the public before placing this before the voters. At present, we do not have enough information to make a statement either for or against any of the proposals.

Again, the League of Women Voters is pleased with the goal of the school district to educate all children and with the continued partnership with the community in budget development.