Watchdog warns against education bond act
The November ballot includes a proposal for New York State to borrow $2 billion to spend on technology for school children, like computer tablets....
Oct 20, 2014 — The November ballot includes a proposal for New York State to borrow $2 billion to spend on technology for school children, like computer tablets. A fiscal watchdog group said it is not a good way to finance the purchase of iPads.
The bond act would give New York State permission to borrow $2 billion primarily to invest in new technology for students in elementary and secondary schools, including iPads and other tablets. It would also include money for building more classrooms for expanded pre-kindergarten.
E.J. McMahon with the fiscally conservative watchdog group the Empire Center said borrowing money that will be paid back with interest over an eight-year period is not the best way to finance technology that will quickly become obsolete. He said it is like taking out a home equity loan to buy the entire family new computers. “They’re assuming that a box full of iPads that some school buys next year are still going to be useful and not obsolete in 2022,” McMahon said. “Nobody believes that.”
He said even the State Board of Regents, which nearly always recommends at least a billion dollars more per year be spent on schools, only asked for $1 million in additional money for technology for schools. The state education department already has a $38 million budget for new technology. McMahon also said the state has a $2.7 billion building aid fund.
Governor Cuomo proposed the bond act and has already set up a task force on how to spend the money, headed by Google C.E.O. Eric Schmidt.
Cuomo was asked recently whether he actively backed the bond act. He had little to say about it. “I’ve spoken publicly on the bond issue,” Cuomo told reporters. “I support it.”
The governor has not held any campaign events to promote the bond act. McMahon said the governor’s creation of a commission on how to distribute the funds before the bond act has even been presented to voters is a little premature. His strategy is calculated presumptuousness,” McMahon said. “He basically acts as if it’s already passed.”
No education group is actively backing the proposal. And many, including the teachers union and the state school boards, have expressed reservations.
McMahon said a vote against the ballot proposal does not mean a vote against giving kids access to pre-K and computer tablets. He said a no vote is simply a protest against the wrong way to pay for it.
“It’s not how you feel about classroom technology and pre-K,” McMahon said. “The bond act is not about that, it’s about how to pay for it. And the good news is we are already paying for it through annual budget appropriations.”
He said the $100 million paid on interest for the bonds each year could be better used going directly to schools to finance any needed new technology.
