Students doing STEM
As we close the books on another challenging school year, it’s worth recognizing a little-known state program that’s reaping big benefits for our school children.
This year, New York funded $30 million to reimburse non-public schools for the salaries of qualified science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers for grades 3–12 as part of an innovative, first-of-its kind program first approved by the State Legislature in 2017.
Although you might not have heard of it, the program is certainly needed. According to a 2021 study conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers and Deloitte, there will be 2.1 million unfilled STEM jobs nationwide by 2030.
To address this looming crisis, the program works to increase both the quality and the quantity of STEM education in our schools. Only “highly qualified teachers” are eligible for reimbursement under the state’s rules, which incentivizes schools to hire someone with advanced degrees to teach their STEM classes. This helps make sure we are only hiring the best. And the more STEM classes that a school offers, the more reimbursement it is eligible for.
Many schools have gotten creative with the extra state funds. For example, one all-girls school on Long Island created its own version of the popular TV show “Shark Tank,” starring their student body of budding engineers and entrepreneurs. They call it “Fish Tank,” and some of the projects include a remote-controlled pool flotation device and a UV LED light toothbrush cleaner.
In New York City, one in four of the schools that participate take part in the federal school lunch program, an indicator of a high poverty rate for the student body. And 40% of the students educated through this funding receive some type of financial assistance from their school.
One of us is the Head of School at one of those high-poverty schools, and has seen the program’s impact up-close. Since the program started last year, not only have we hired teachers we otherwise couldn’t have – many of whom are women and teachers of color – but we’re also seeing the students engage like never before. We’re hearing more and more girls say they want to major in science or math in college, and one 7th grade student recently told us she even likes multiplying negative integers. Now that’s something we never heard before!
With results like these, now is this time for the state to double down on this amazing program. For starters, cut the red tape and the lengthy delays in reimbursement payouts, which can take years to reach schools. That $30 million our schools received this year? It was approved by the Legislature over three years ago in 2019, and all applications were received by the state before September 2020. It shouldn’t take two years to process applications.
And let’s increase the amount we are reimbursing up to $100 million. That would be enough to fund all the eligible STEM teachers in New York private schools, a huge win for our students and for our state.
At first glance, that might seem like a lot of taxpayer money for non-public schools. But think about all the other things the state funds – like $409 million in tax credits for film production companies, $532 million in tax exemptions for cable television sales, and $115 million in sales tax breaks for jet fuel purchases.
In addition, states like Florida and New Jersey – two places that many New Yorkers consider relocating to – have started or are looking to start similar programs of their own. New York has to stay competitive.
Let’s fully embrace this program and make it as strong as it can be. It’s a down payment on the future of all of our children – and all New Yorkers.
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Maury Litwack is Managing Director for the Orthodox Union and founded its Teach Coalition division, which advocates for greater investments in nonpublic schools. Shalonda Gutierrez is the Head of School at Cornelia Connelly Center in Manhattan.
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Gov. Hochul discusses the budget (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)
California concluded its state budget with Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature on June 30, choosing a different path than New York to provide its residents a break from inflation.
California chose to provide modest relief to nearly all its residents through an income tax rebate this October. The Governor’s press release described the state’s action by saying, “Global inflation. Rising Costs. It’s hard out there and we know it. So, we’re giving you $9.5 billion back.”
New York State adopted its budget April 9. While there were many similarities in the two states’ budgets — from large school aid, college aid, and health care increases, bonuses for health care workers, and even large set-asides of cash reserves for the future — New York chose to funnel its main upfront benefit overwhelmingly to homeowners, followed by a benefit for car-owners.
The Hochul administration already completed the former in June, despite originally scheduling the benefit for October. The New York homeowner tax rebate, while certainly worthy in and of itself, falls far short as a broad equitable distribution of the state’s resources of the kind that California is undertaking to provide some relief amid rising costs.
Over the course of weeks, about 2.5 million New York State homeowners and cooperators began receiving tax rebate checks worth about $2.2 billion in sum from the state government. A note accompanying every check announces Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature are providing the money to “help pay your property taxes.” The rebate was authorized in the state budget adopted in April but envisioned distribution in October. Despite the initial billing as help with property taxes, the governor’s office had rising inflation on its mind in this statement about speeding up the rebate.
"Given rising costs and national inflation, the Department of Taxation and Finance has been working to deliver these benefits to eligible homeowners as quickly as practicable and not delay relief,” the state said. Accelerating the rebate also gave Governor Hochul an easy political benefit in her June Democratic primary, which she won handily.
New York’s property tax rebate ranges from a hundred dollars to more than $2,000, depending on a homeowner’s income and their local property tax burden, and the program includes about 480,000 New York City homeowners and cooperators.
The relief is linked to a longstanding New York property tax relief program, called STAR. New York actually has 4 million owner-occupied households, according to recent Census data, but homeowners and cooperators with incomes above $250,000 a year, who I estimate might comprise as much as 15% of those 4 million, are not eligible for the rebate. Almost 1 million owner-occupied households are not eligible for other reasons, because they never applied for the STAR program in the first place, or the formula in the rebate program excludes homeowners eligible for less than $100.
Still, 46% of New York’s population is tenants and they were not eligible for the rebate. There is a relatively small percentage of tenant households with incomes above $250,000, but not many (Census figures show about 10% of New York tenants have incomes above $150,000). New York’s budget did include other kinds of tax relief, from additional credits under the Earned Income Tax Credit program to the temporary elimination of 16 cents on the gasoline tax (barely noticeable as gas prices have reached $5 a gallon), and an already-planned income tax cut that will mostly phase in next year.
Between the exclusion of renters (almost half the population), and the administrative issues with the STAR program, as much as 60% of the state’s households won’t get the special direct check from the state meant to help people amid rising costs. This does not mean that low- and middle-income homeowners across the state in areas with high property taxes aren’t getting some meaningful relief.
But California’s plan covers homeowners and tenants. And while it is titled the middle-class tax rebate, the benefit is structured around residents who file income taxes, creating a more equitable, broadly-beneficial program amid record inflation.
A married couple filing a joint tax return in California with an income of $150,000 or below with one dependent would qualify for the maximum benefit of $1,050. A resident filing a single return with an income below $75,000 would qualify for $350. A tax filer with a dependent gets an extra $350. Single filers earning between $75,000 and $125,000 get $250 refunds, and households between $150,000 and $250,000 in income that file jointly receive $500, with a dependent getting an extra $250. Single taxpayers earning up to $250,000, and joint filers earning up to $500,000, are also eligible for refunds. Supplemental Security Income recipients would also get some extra money. California’s homeownership rate, at about 55%, is quite similar to New York’s 54%. The 3.9% sales tax on diesel fuel is also suspended in California, with commercial and farm vehicle owners intended as beneficiaries.
Governor Newsom’s original budget plan, submitted in March, proposed that residents get debit cards worth up to $400, based on motor vehicle registrations. The Legislature rejected that plan in favor of the income tax rebate.
In New York, no plan to add further relief from either the governor or the Legislature occurred following the April budget, even as inflation worsened. Inaction persisted all the way to the end of the regular legislative session despite the state budget division presenting its Enacted Budget Financial Plan in late May showing the state sitting on staggering sums of money.
The closing balance for Fiscal Year 2022 (end of March) in the General Fund was $33 billion, with $14.78 billion available, including $2 billion set to be added to the state’s eviction relief program and provide for other emergency needs like foreclosures and utility bills. There is also over $18 billion in two special accounts (Extraordinary Monetary Settlements and Pass-Through Entity Personal Income Tax Credits-PTET/PIT) for which there are special plans. The General Fund balances don’t include another $8 billion in federal funds left from the American Rescue Plan, which was passed by President Biden and Congress and the state seeks to use over the coming three years.
In May I wrote about New York’s budget plans and the significant influx of revenue beyond projections coming into the state treasury, and offered a proposal to provide income tax rebates that bears a rather uncanny resemblance to the deal California has now reached. I also suggested further cuts to gasoline taxes and mass transit discounts for New Yorkers to help drivers and non-drivers.
With several months of additional information on tax receipts and state spending, my projection that there would be about $4 billion above the Enacted Budget remained accurate, including $2 billion in funds beyond both the Executive Budget final updates and the adopted budget (see State Comptroller May 2022 cash report).
Governor Hochul’s decision to pull the trigger on the state’s property tax rebate in June instead of October effectively brought the state’s inflation relief package to a close, along with the gas tax suspension that began in June. It’s unfortunate because there is so much money available the state could still offer more help, even while acknowledging it needs to keep most of its cash stored away in reserve in case of a recession.
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Jim Brennan was a member of the New York State Assembly for 32 years, where he chaired four committees. On Twitter @JimBrennanNY.
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Local health care spending spurs economic activity (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)
As leaders of two of Brooklyn’s largest health systems – representing six hospitals, employing almost 14,000 individuals, and with combined non-personnel spending of over $655M per year – we understand firsthand the role healthcare institutions play in supporting the health and wealth of our communities. This is why we have made an unprecedented commitment to procure 10% of our non-clinical goods and services from local minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBEs) by 2030.
According to a new report by non-profit Brooklyn Communities Collaborative, our joint commitment has the potential to generate $35-40 million in new annual revenue for local businesses.
Hospitals are inextricably linked to the communities they serve, creating a virtuous circle that strengthens health systems and the neighborhoods around them. As two of the largest private employers in Brooklyn with significant spending power, anchor institutions like ours can help level the playing field and catalyze local economic growth.
Healthcare makes up nearly 20% of the U.S. economy. In New York State alone, healthcare accounts for 10% of annual GDP, and continues to experience record job growth as its fastest growing industry. Given their tremendous economic importance, healthcare systems and hospitals have the unique ability to drive economic opportunity at-large and for emerging and established MWBEs.
Leveraging the economic power of hospitals to generate local wealth is a key lever to address structural drivers of poor health. We know that individuals’ zip code affects their access to quality education, housing options, rent levels, exposure to violence, crime, and toxins, as well as levels of social capital – all of which are key determinants of health. Addressing non-medical needs significantly improves individual and population health, and placing an emphasis on such initiatives is just as imperative to our communities’ wellbeing as improvements in medical care.
The recent report released by Brooklyn Communities Collaborative notes that local procurement can generate twice as much recirculation of revenue in the local economy and up to double the number of jobs per dollar of non-local procurement. Brooklyn hospitals alone yield up to $2 billion in spending power annually — an opportunity for transformation we cannot afford to overlook.
Targeted procurement has the potential to make a transformative impact across the city, particularly in Brooklyn, where more than 50% of households of color would be unable to make ends meet if their income is interrupted. But make no mistake, procurement in itself is not a panacea. Creating a more equitable economy will take a number of strategic interventions, analysis of successes and challenges, and the flexibility to adapt to bumps in the road.
Today, we are focused on working directly with businesses to identify issues and develop targeted solutions. We will share advice on penetrating and navigating the hospital procurement market, work with community organizations to create bridge loans and develop the local workforce, and help these businesses scale and manage the procurement process from start to finish.
Together, we can build healthy communities, generate economic opportunity and continue to provide high-quality patient care.
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LaRay Brown is the CEO of One Brooklyn Health, which includes Interfaith Medical Center, Brookdale Hospital, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, two large nursing homes, and several ambulatory care centers. Kenneth D. Gibbs is the CEO of Maimonides Health and serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Greater New York Hospital Association and Chair of the Board of Healthfirst. On Twitter @BKCommunities.
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