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Racial disparity seen in schools’ state aid

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Herricks is set to receive nearly $17.6 million for the 2022-23 school year, nearly a 19% increase from last year, also in the bottom half of percentage increases among analyzed districts. New Hyde Park-Garden City Park, which had the second-lowest increase in state aid among the analyzed school districts, is also set to receive the lowest percentage increase in state aid of nearly 10%, or $6.9 million, for the 2022-23 school year.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said the $31.5 billion statewide package “will broaden access to opportunity in New York and build the education system of the future,” according to a statement she issued.

“The opportunity to pursue a quality education is the silver bullet for so many New Yorkers,” Hochul said. “With this budget we are going to unleash the power of higher education to lift up the people of our state by investing in our institutions and our teachers.”

While Hochul’s goal to provide New Yorkers with “quality education” is something parents and guardians should be pleased to hear, ERASE Racism—a regional civil rights organization—released a report fi nding unequal resources for school districts with prominent minority enrollment throughout Long Island. The report found that there is one guidance

CHART BY STEVEN KEEHNER

The state aid increases for the 2022-23 school year through the 11 North Shore public school districts.

counselor for every 500 students in majority black and Hispanic school districts compared to one per 356 students in districts with predominantly white enrollment.

“We sought instead to understand how equitably educational resources are allocated across school districts,” ERASE Racism President Elaine Gross said. “We found that the diff erences in resource allocation are stark, depending on a district’s racial composition. This must be addressed by state, county, and local authorities.”

In order to bridge the gap in disparities between districts with predominantly minority and white enrollments, the organization recommended the state Legislature prioritize equitable funding, resource sharing and racially integrated learning environments.

Alan Singer, a professor of education and history at Hofstra University, said districts with large numbers of English Language Learners, such as Hempstead and Roosevelt, require additional funds. While New York’s education is “overwhelmingly” fi nanced by property taxes, Singer said, the federal government does not mandate schools be funded that way.

“In 1995, New York state took over Roosevelt and pumped some money in, but it didn’t really change the quality of education in the district,” Singer said. “What i argue is why not consolidate districts. I argued that the state wasn’t bailing out Roosevelt, it was bailing out Bellemore-Merrick to maintain a separate district.”

Singer said it is hard to determine what state aid is appropriate for school districts to ensure that quality education is being provided to everyone because some school districts have certain students with specifi c needs. A child’s fi nancial situation should not determine the type of education they receive, Singer said.

“Should your good fortune of getting the right parents in the right neighborhood determine your future?” Singer asked “To me, that’s not the kind of Long Island we want to have. It shouldn’t be a lottery based on birth.”

Chaminade valedictorian named ‘Man of The Year’

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In his speech, Ambach recalled an incident back in his freshman year when he could not fi nd the library. He asked a teacher for directions, but rather than simply telling him where it was, he said, “Let me walk you there.”

“I’m sure this teacher has no recollection of this moment, but this occurrence stuck with me as the fi rst time I felt welcomed into the Chaminade family,” said Ambach. “As we look to the future to college, a career, marriage, fatherhood, maybe even a religious vocation, let us remember all the people that walked us here. You took us by the hand, guided us on our fi rst steps, prodded us to venture out on our own, and empowered us to walk independently, so that someday we can say to some very eager and more than slightly nervous young person, ‘Let me walk you there.’”

Chaminade High School’s graduating class of 2022 applauded valedictorian Charles John Ambach after receiving Chaminade’s Man of The Year award. Source: Jessica Ren

Ambach was born in Greenwich, Conn. but has lived in Garden City for most of his life. Despite attending public schools all his life, his parents decided to send him to Chaminade after hearing positive feedback about the school from two of his uncles, who are alumni.

“It feels great to know that I’ve earned the respect of both my peers and teachers,” said Ambach in an interview. “I know that my family is very proud of me. My oldest sister is very happy to be able to brag to her coworkers that she is the ‘sister of the Chaminade Man.’”

Over the summer, Ambach is participating in an eight-week internship at Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, where he will be working in a bioelectronic medicine laboratory that aims to reduce infl ammation through the stimulation of the nervous system. He will be attending Princeton University in the fall, majoring in neuroscience.

“My advice for the Class of 2022 is the same as my advice for high schoolers; get involved,” said Ambach. “Join extracurriculars and be active in your classes. Be active in whatever communities you join after high school and beyond.”

Bill backed by Franchetti heads to Hochul’s desk

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The bill is the fi rst of eight laws that Franchetti has pushed for to reach this point. It requires court-ordered forensic evaluations involving child custody and visitation by a licensed psychologist, social worker or psychiatrist who has completed a training program developed by the state’s Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Senate Bill S6385 now must be signed by Hochul for it to become law.

“This bill has HUGE signifi cance to me as it was the very fi rst bill in New York State that I drafted after Kyra’s murder,” Franchetti said in a statement. “It will mandate training for forensic child custody evaluators on family violence, trauma, and child abuse.”

Weeks ago, Senate Bill S8578B, which prohibits certain forensic child custody evaluators from appearing as expert witnesses in family court, passed the Senate. It must now pass the Assembly before reaching Hochul’s desk to be signed.

Franchetti has led a fi ght to reform the New York justice system that let her daughter slip through the cracks.

On July 27, 2016, 2-year-old Kyra’s father shot her twice in the back while she was sleeping at his Fairfax, Va., home on an unsupervised, courtsanctioned visit. He then set the house on fi re and shot himself to death.

After Kyra was killed, Franchetti founded Kyra’s Champions and the Kyra Franchetti Foundation, whose mission is to protect children in custody cases from being ordered by a court into the home of an abusive parent.

Franchetti’s advocacy has led to multiple bills, including Kyra’s Law, which makes child safety the top priority in Family Court, increases judicial training on family violence and eliminates the use of forensic evaluators, among other things.

Franchetti previously said that the bills have garnered interest and led to over 15,000 emails sent to legislators in support of the fi ve bills.

In December, Gov. Kathy Hochul released a report from the Blue-Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluations, created by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year, of which Franchetti was one of 20 members.

The group was focused on providing recommendations to the governor about updates to the evaluations for New York courts after negative experiences were reported by parents, attorneys and court offi cials.

Forensic evaluators are required to have a background in mental health and conduct evaluations on parent/ child relationships before providing a report to the court. Franchetti described a lack of necessary training, bias and lack of standards as reasons the commission was created.

Franchetti previously cited several disturbing examples that included a forensic evaluator in Schenectady requiring a child who disclosed sexual abuse to sit on her father’s lap during her interview.

She said on Long Island an evaluator interviewed a young boy on the bed where he was raped and in her daughter Kyra’s case, the evaluator dismissed documented evidence and eyewitness accounts of abuse and advocated for the father who ultimately murdered her to have joint custody.

More information about Kyra’s Champions can be found at www.kyraschampions.org.