Two key bills for school administrators – one attempting to correct a dichotomy in tenure laws, one seeking to remove the salary cap for BOCES superintendents – were vetoed at the close of 2018. How do these vetoes impact school districts in New York state?

Probationary periods remain unequal for tenured teachers and administrators

In New York state, the same tenure laws apply to teachers and administrators in virtually all cases. Both serve four-year probationary periods; and both are entitled to the due process provisions under Education Law 3020-a. However, one notable exception relates to those who have earned tenure and accept a position in a new school district or new tenure area. In those cases, previously tenured teachers serve a probationary period of three years; while administrators serve four years. The dichotomy, while significant, is unexplained. Nothing in the bill jacket from the originally-enacted law explains why teachers receive a shortened period, while administrators do not.

The updated tenure provision in Education Law Section 3012 was enacted in April 2015. Those provisions adjusted probationary periods from three to four years for teachers and administrators in order to be provided with tenure. It also shortened to three years the period for teachers to earn tenure if they previously earned tenure in one school district, and are now taking new positions in another school district. This same reduced probationary period was not provided to experienced administrators who had earned tenure in one school district and move to another.

Amendment S.6090-A (Veto 313 of 2018) sought to change that by amending section 3012 of the education law to allow the shortened tenure probationary period of three years for previously-tenured principals, administrators, supervisors and other certified administrators – not just teachers. While straightforward, this singular amendment seems to have been the downfall of the bill – more so than any articulated policy concern.

Veto Message 313, issued just before the close of 2018, noted two reasons for denying approval. First, Governor Cuomo pointed out that with an “immediate” effective date, the bill would immediately reduce the tenure probationary period for certain individuals, giving less time to evaluate them and effectively creating an automatic tenure status for those who have served more than three but less than four years. Tenure would be conferred automatically, by operation of law and not by any board action.

Secondly, the Governor believed the bill would create an uneven playing field, insofar as it would create differences in tenure probationary appointments for different types of school districts. He feared it “would create a perverse incentive making it even more difficult for our city schools – who arguably have the highest need – to recruit and retain the highest-quality administrators.”

While the legislature might resurrect this bill next session, previously tenured administrators continue to serve a full four-year probationary term.

Salary cap persists for BOCES superintendents

The Governor also vetoed Assembly Bill 2112-A (Veto 329 of 2018), which would have removed the current cap on the salaries of BOCES superintendents. The 37 BOCES superintendents oversee large public education programs and services -- including special education, career and technical education, school district administrative services, alternative high school diploma options, technology support and student data programs – that are critical to the approximately 700 school districts that depend on BOCES services for their students. Currently, BOCES superintendents have a salary cap of 98 percent of the salary of the Commissioner of Education, dated back to the 2002-2003 school year. This limits BOCES leaders to an annual salary of approximately $166,752. The cap has created challenges for many BOCES boards in hiring and retaining BOCES superintendents, given the pay inequity between BOCES superintendents and superintendents of schools, who contend with no such cap. The initiative to lift this cap has been an ongoing effort by BOCES boards, the New York State Council of School Superintendents, the School Administrators Association of New York State and the New York State School Boards Association.

While the veto message acknowledged the valuable education services of BOCES to both the state and to local school districts, it rationalized the veto by citing the impact upon state and local taxpayers of increasing the salaries of “already highly-compensated superintendents” The veto message also indicates that the issue of salary increases should have been addressed in the context of the 2018-2019 state budget.