Long Island Property Taxes, New York's skyrocketing debt

Police, teacher pension costs ballooning across LI

2011-11-13T21:49:00.000-05:00

Police, teacher pension costs ballooning across LI

This is a downward spiral with no fix, until the whole system crashes. Municipal defaults will rise with time along with stress on county and state budgets. Pension is like a Ponzi scheme. Pay the workers less today and promise them goodies in the future to be paid by future residents. So when the future arrives, we have to pay for pension and the pay both at the same time. Nice !

Long Island taxpayers will pay an estimated $2.9 billion over the next two years into the state's public pension systems, a 69 percent increase over the previous two-year period.

The projections for 2012 and 2013 come as towns, villages and schools are already facing budget headaches heading into 2012. Nassau and Suffolk counties are struggling with projected deficits, and Nassau remains under control of a state fiscal watchdog.

Newsday last March reported that local municipalities and school districts would be taking a big hit in soaring contribution costs due by February 2012 to compensate for sharp stock market losses in 2008 and 2009. Since then, the state comptroller and the Teachers' Retirement System have projected rates that show contributions will rise further through 2012 and 2013.

"There has never been anything as crippling to local budgets as this pension time bomb is," said outgoing Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who has backed fundamental changes to the public pension system. "It is a miracle that schools and local governments are able to keep things going with these phenomenal costs.

"Local governments cannot stay afloat if this type of increase continues," he added.

To supporters, the public pension system -- the Employees' Retirement System, the Police and Fire Retirement System, and the Teachers' Retirement system -- is an unchangeable pact between government and its workers. By law, the pension system is constitutionally guaranteed and must be fully funded and able to cover the retirements of all workers. Historically, the appeal of many public-sector jobs was not high salaries but the benefits that came with them.

Newsday has assembled a database of pension costs that shows what governments and districts on Long Island will pay into the three systems. The database includes every public employer on the Island -- from the libraries, villages, school and taxing districts, to both counties.

Among the highlights:

By February, local governments, including Nassau and Suffolk counties, will pay an estimated $824 million for their pension contributions to the state comptroller's office, which manages the Employees' and Police and Fire systems, according to data provided by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

In addition, next fall, school districts will have to pay about $540 million into the teachers' system, according to Newsday projections based on TRS data.

By February 2013, local governments could owe an additional $973 million, based on the comptroller's projections. And school districts may see their TRS pension-related costs rise to $583 million.

The bill totals $2.9 billion over the next 24 months. In 2010 and 2011 combined, local taxpayers paid $1.7 billion over the two-year period, Newsday found.

All three pension systems are trying to "smooth" -- or stretch out -- the huge stock market declines over a five-year period, and every local public employer has to contribute enough to make up the losses.

Exactly how long that smoothing process will last is not known.

"We're well into it, but we're certainly not through it," DiNapoli said.

Smoothing out payments or not, local officials say the cost of public pensions is far too high.

"It's a horror story that's continuing," said Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos. "It's insanity that this is happening. I think it's going to increase the stress on certainly the county and every local government.

"Ultimately, if this continues -- and it's likely if the market doesn't perform -- this alone can bankrupt us or force taxes through the roof," Maragos said.

Some experts note that pension contributions are just one factor in a broader local budget crisis, pointing to the potential elimination of the so-called millionaires' tax and state aid reductions as equally critical local budget issues.

"To focus all of the responsibility on public workers is just inappropriate," said James Parrott, the chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. "There are other things going on."

The state's property tax cap has certain exemptions for pension contributions, so it's possible that localities could raise taxes to account for future increases, Parrott said.

A growing burden

Pension contributions constitute a percentage of payrolls. The Employees' Retirement System's average contribution rate for 2013 will rise to 18.9 percent of payroll, from 16.3 percent in fiscal year 2012. The Police and Fire Retirement System's contribution rate will increase to 25.8 percent of payroll in 2013, from 21.6 percent in fiscal year 2012. Most local entities pay into the Employees' Retirement System, while the counties, some villages and some police districts pay into both.

The school districts contribute to both ERS -- for their nonteaching staff -- and the Teachers' Retirement System. The TRS contribution rate will rise to 12 percent for its fiscal year 2013, the system reported last week. That's up from an 11.11 percent rate in 2012. The Teachers' Retirement System's fiscal year ends in June of each year, while the ERS and Police and Fire Retirement System end in March.

Robert Lowery, deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, said most districts had to freeze or cut expenses to absorb pension costs without big tax increases.

"That's been a huge burden for school districts to wrestle with," Lowery said.

The burden has carried over to the region's libraries, which will pay $48.4 million during 2012 and 2013, compared with $25 million they paid from 2010 through 2011.

Even though many libraries are able to handle the increases now because of fund balances and other income sources, Middle Country Public Library director Sandra Feinberg said the future is uncertain.

She said her library is facing almost $2 million in pension contributions over the next two years.

"I feel we're in good shape for the next three to five years, but after that, I wouldn't guarantee anything," Feinberg said. "That's across-the-board for any municipality, but it's particularly bad for libraries that are very sensitive to costs for the community."

Several localities have tried to manage the strain by spreading out their contributions -- an option the state comptroller offered to allow employers to spread the pain. Suffolk County spread out its contributions last year, and plans to continue to do so, Levy said. Nassau County will amortize the difference between its 2011 and 2012 contributions, according to county spokesman Brian Nevin.

But that won't be enough, officials said.

"All governments must rein in costs and cut expenses to protect taxpayers from a tax hike," Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said.

Fixing the problem

Solutions to the pension question range from giving localities a year off from contributing -- a pension holiday of sorts -- to overhauling the state's system into a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k).

Jerry Laricchiuta, who heads Civil Service Employees Association Local 830 and advocates the pension holiday idea, said the average union pension is $18,000 a year. The pensions are the "last vestige" of public worker benefits, and shouldn't be compromised, he said.

DiNapoli said in an interview that a pension holiday could hurt the system's fully funded position. But, he added, overhauling public pensions or limiting their benefits isn't the answer either.

"I don't think we should jeopardize retirement security because of some bad decisions by Wall Street," DiNapoli said.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has introduced proposals to reform the pension system, including a tier for new public employees that would increase contributions, raise the retirement age and exclude overtime. The goal is "to reduce costs for both state and local governments," said Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto.

Andrew Biggs, a resident scholar with the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., said such moves are necessary, especially given the unknown potential of another market downturn.

"If you're hit again with another market downturn, then what do you do?" he said. "The day that we can put off these choices is behind us."

Source: Newsday

Math scores drop below national average for NY fourth-graders

2011-11-01T21:13:00.000-04:00

On a scale of 0 to 500, average math scores for the NY state dropped to 238 from 241 two years ago

New York found itself in an unwelcome spotlight Tuesday as the only state where fourth-grade math scores fell significantly during the latest round of national testing.

On a scale of 0 to 500, average scores for the state dropped to 238 from 241 two years ago, federal testing officials reported. This marked the first time since 1992 that New York's performance in fourth-grade math has fallen below the national average, as recorded by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The national average is 240 this year, up from 239 in 2009.

The assessment, described as the "nation's report card," is a federally funded project that since 1969 has tested samples of students at the national and state levels.

In another blow to New York, the head of the NAEP's Governing Board singled out the state along with two others as places where overall academic progress has been particularly sluggish -- both in reading and math -- during the past eight years.

The NAEP chief, David Driscoll, a former Massachusetts education commissioner, observed in remarks prepared for a Washington news conference Tuesday that New York, Iowa and West Virginia had "stood virtually still" since 2003 in percentages of students attaining proficiency on fourth- and eighth-grade tests. Driscoll now is chairman of the NAEP's Governing Board, a bipartisan panel appointed by the U.S. education secretary to oversee testing policy.

New York State Education Commissioner John King Jr. called the results "disappointing and unacceptable" and said the new Common Core curriculum will help student achievement.

"The goal is college and career readiness for every student and that starts the first day a child walks into a classroom," King said in a statement.

The Common Core curriculum is part of a multiyear, national drive to raise the bar of American students' achievement. The new standards put more emphasis on advanced literacy and applied math. The program, which is linked to international academic standards, has been approved by 44 states.

Driscoll said in a phone interview before the news conference that New York had made considerable efforts to boost scholastic achievement. Driscoll went on, however, to suggest that his own state of Massachusetts had made greater progress by aligning its testing standards early on with standards set at the national level -- a move that New York only recently began.

"I think the proof here is that Massachusetts leaped to the top of the country," Driscoll said of his state's test scores. "If you're a coach, I don't think you start the season saying you want to go two and eight."

In recent years, state school officials have conceded that the cutoff scores they set for students to reach proficiency level had dropped too low. Those cutoffs were abruptly raised in July 2010, with Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the New York Board of Regents, declaring that the state was doing a disservice "when we say that a child is proficient when that child is not."

What do you think, will it ever go up? Now that we are faced with rising cost of pensions, other benefits coupled with budget cuts and increase in class sizes, it seems like all downhill from here. What's your opinion ?

Source: Newsday

11 charged in LIRR disability scheme, $1-billion fraud scheme

2011-10-29T21:45:00.000-04:00

11 charged in LIRR disability scheme, $1-billion fraud scheme

Federal prosecutors yesterday outlined a massive decadelong scheme to collect on hundreds of phony Long Island Rail Road disability claims worth as much as $1 billion and lodged criminal charges against two Long Island doctors and seven former transit workers.

Although only seven former LIRR employees were charged, the FBI said the investigation was continuing and warned the disability payments of hundreds of others would be under scrutiny.

Eleven people altogether, including 10 Long Islanders, were named in a complaint accusing the two doctors of running "disability mills" since 1998 that OK'd hundreds of bogus claims to the federal Railroad Retirement Board, the agency that administers the benefits, on behalf of able people who golfed weekly, took long bike tours, shoveled snow and worked as landscapers.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said his office would explore civil cases to recover money, as well as new criminal cases, and FBI Criminal Division of New York special agent Diego Rodriguez urged people who had been part of the fraud to come forward -- but declined to promise leniency.

"Who has better information about this scheme . . . than those who perpetrated it?" he said. "We look forward to hearing from you. For those who choose not to contact us, there's a good chance we'll be contacting you."

The 74-page criminal complaint in federal court in Manhattan painted a picture of wholesale abuse. LIRR workers collected disability benefits at a rate 12 times higher than Metro-North workers, it said, and all 869 of the workers between 50 and 55 who retired during a five-year period ending in 2008 got disability awards.

Bharara, however, acknowledged that the entire complaint focused on events that occurred before 2008, when a New York Times investigation revealed widespread problems, and said he believed that the system has tightened up since then.

The complaint said defendant orthopedists Peter Ajemian, 62, of Syosset, and Peter Lesniewski, 60, of Rockville Centre, along with an unidentified third doctor who is deceased, accounted for 86 percent of disability claims filed from 1998 to 2011. It said the doctors received "millions of dollars" to approve more than 90 percent of the LIRR workers they saw.

The second layer of the alleged fraud involved "facilitators" -- including former LIRR union president Joseph Rutigliano, 64, of Holtsville, and Marie Baran, 64, of East Meadow, who ran the retirement board office in Westbury. They were accused of aiding the scheme by coaching applicants on how to make phony claims and which doctors to see.

The former workers who were charged, prosecutors said, were guilty of the most "egregious" violations that turned up in the investigation.

They included Gregory Noone, 62, of East Islip, a retired LIRR engineering manager, who gets $105,000 annually in pension and disability benefits but has allegedly continued to play tennis and golfed regularly -- signing up to play 140 days in nine months on one course without paying a fee because of his disability. But after the fraud investigation was reported, Noone didn't sign up for another game, the complaint says. Another, Regina Walsh of New Hyde Park, collects $108,000 annually but "has been surveilled shoveling heavy snow for approximately one-and-a-half hours," the complaint said.

A third defendant, Steven Gagliano, 55, of North Babylon, allegedly has completed a 400-mile bike tour since retiring on disability because he wasn't able to work as a signal operator. Other defendants allegedly engaged in regular gym workouts, landscaping work, and heavy lifting.

All of those accused face a maximum of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and mail fraud.

Nine of the defendants were taken into custody in raids across Long Island Thursday that left stunned neighbors shaking their heads. A tenth defendant surrendered in North Carolina, and prosecutors said Lesniewski is expected to surrender Friday. Eight of those appearing in federal court in Manhattan were released on bonds, and one -- Maria Rusin, of Farmingdale -- was hospitalized after becoming ill in court.

The defendants did not enter pleas, and the only lawyer to comment was Joseph Ryan, who represents former union boss Rutigliano. "I consider the complaint a masterpiece of creative writing," Ryan said.

The complaint attributed the scheme in part to an unusual benefit available to LIRR workers, who are allowed to retire on a partial pension after 20 years at age 50, instead of having to wait for 65 to get a full pension like other workers covered by the federal railroad retirement system.

That provision, the complaint said, acts as an incentive for LIRR workers to work heavy overtime before they reach 50 to maximize the pension, and then retire early and try to make up the gap between a partial and full pension with a prearranged disability claim.

Officials said the case was based on undercover tapes, video surveillance and statistical analysis that showed that claimants worked extra overtime and took little sick time leading up to their retirement, and then claimed disabilities timed to coincide with their retirement date.

The $1 billion was a projection of the cost over the full 13-year period of the alleged conspiracy that was based on a sampling of claims approved by the doctors between 2004 and 2008.

During that period, Ajemian allegedly collected $2.2 million in fees from 453 LIRR disability patients. Those 453 have collected $90 million and are in line to collect $210 million. Lesniewski got $750,000 in fees from 134 patients who have received $31 million and are in line to get $64 million.

"Benefit programs like the Railroad Retirement Board's disability pension program were designed to be a safety net for the truly disabled, not a feeding trough for the truly dishonest," Bharara said.

Officials ranging from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to LIRR president Helena Williams joined in condemning the fraud on the railroad fund, which is financed by a combination of payroll taxes and employer taxes.

Williams said she hoped the operation would send a "strong message." At the LIRR's parent agency, MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger said that while the defendants faced loss of their phony disability payments, he wasn't sure whether contracts would allow the agency to take away their pensions.

Inspector General Martin Dickman of the federal retirement board, which has been criticized for lax procedures and rules tilted toward granting claims, said the agency will "continue to root out" fraud.

Source: Newsday

Mangano 2012 budget out of touch as per Democrats, Really ?

2011-09-22T23:05:00.000-04:00

Well if requiring all county employees to contribute 25 percent to their health insurance is out of touch then they are really living in 1999.

Nassau County Democrats came out swinging Thursday against County Executive Edward Mangano's proposed fiscal 2012 budget, calling it "out of touch with reality" and a threat to public safety if police precincts are closed.

At a news conference, members of the minority bloc castigated Mangano's $2.63 billion proposal submitted to the legislature last week. The county plans to close two police precincts, require all employees to contribute 25 percent to their health insurance and lay off 700 workers to close a projected $310 million budget gap next year.

Democrats argue that the plan relies too heavily on union givebacks that will likely never come to fruition and could lead to costly legal battles. "There isn't one realistic expectation in the budget," said Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury).

Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead) said the proposal included "too many what-ifs" and did not offer a Plan B if some of the proposed savings did not materialize.

Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin said the "criticism comes from the same partisan legislators who spent lavishly over the past decade while increasing property taxes and imposing a heating tax on all homeowners."

Abrahams said that he was not prepared to offer $300 million in substitute cuts but said Democrats had found millions in wasteful spending in the budget, including $5 million in outside fees to legal counsel. With only eight votes, Democrats cannot block Mangano's budget unless at least two Republicans vote against the plan, a scenario considered unlikely by both parties. A budget must be adopted no later than Oct. 30.

Source: Newsday

Long Island Teacher - Is this the best paying job ?

2011-09-22T22:48:00.000-04:00

New study from Bureau of Labor Statistics finds LI teachers tops in salary list New York State and Northern New Jersey

Average annual wages for teachers Nassau-Suffolk

$85,780: Secondary
$83,700: Middle
$86,440: Elementary

$85k for 188 days of work and 6hrs a day means

$85,780/(188*6) = $76/ hr

WOW! $76/hr with nice health benefits and pension! That's $150+k per year ... Nice

Well here is the same stale reason why they need high salaries, cost of living in Long Island is high. Is it even higher than New York City? where teachers are paid less. The same is the issue with Suffolk and Nassau Police salaries !

Long Island tops the list for average teacher salaries in New York State and Northern New Jersey, according to a new federal study.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday looked at the average pay of secondary, middle and elementary schoolteachers in various metro areas around the state as of May 2010. Long Island had the highest salaries in all of those categories.

The average salary here for an elementary schoolteacher was the highest at $86,440. That contrasted with a statewide average of $67,940 and the nation's $54,330.

The five boroughs of New York City were lumped into a metro area that includes counties in Northern New Jersey and north of the city. That area's average pay for an elementary schoolteacher was $69,040.

Since at least 2008, teachers' salaries on Long Island have far outpaced the state average, and the gap has widened slightly for elementary teachers. In 2008 for example, the average $82,050 for an elementary schoolteacher here topped the state's average by $17,050. In 2010 the gap was $18,500. The gaps narrowed slightly for high school and middle school teachers.

School district salaries have long been a point of contention on Long Island because education is largely funded by property taxes. Some critics want to see lower salaries.

"They are way too high," said Fred Gorman, co-founder of Long Islanders for Educational Reform. "They don't want to take into account that they only work 188 days."

But Jeff Rozran, an English teacher at Syosset High School and president of the Teacher Association there, said, "Teachers' salaries are pretty much in line with the salaries in other regions when you look at other things like the cost of housing," he said.

A local economist echoed that view. "When you talk about teachers being paid too much, you need to compare it to what it costs to get by as a middle-class person on Long Island, which is well above what it costs in the southern United States or the Midwest," said economist Gregory DeFreitas, who heads Hofstra University's labor studies program.

Martin Cantor, an economist who heads the Long Island Center for Socio-Economic Policy, a think tank he founded, said the higher salaries also reflect Long Island's more experienced teachers."The fact is Long Island has more experienced teachers who have been working for a longer period of time," he said.

Both economists were surprised that the federal data focused on the average salary rather than the median, which is the midpoint between the higher and lower salaries. The average salary is easily skewed by the large number of baby boomers, who are older and more highly paid, they said.

Source: Newsday

When a budget Cut is Not a Cut - Smoke and Mirrors

2011-08-01T15:15:00.001-04:00

When a Cut is Not a Cut

One might think that the recent drama over the debt ceiling involves one side wanting to increase or maintain spending with the other side wanting to drastically cut spending, but that is far from the truth. In spite of the rhetoric being thrown around, the real debate is over how much government spending will increase.

No plan under serious consideration cuts spending in the way you and I think about it. Instead, the "cuts" being discussed are illusory, and are not cuts from current amounts being spent, but cuts in projected spending increases. This is akin to a family "saving" $100,000 in expenses by deciding not to buy a Lamborghini, and instead getting a fully loaded Mercedes, when really their budget dictates that they need to stick with their perfectly serviceable Honda. But this is the type of math Washington uses to mask the incriminating truth about their unrepentant plundering of the American people.

The truth is that frightening rhetoric about default and full faith and credit of the United States is being carelessly thrown around to ram through a bigger budget than ever, in spite of stagnant revenues. If your family's income did not change year over year, would it be wise financial management to accelerate spending so you would feel richer? That is what our government is doing, with one side merely suggesting a different list of purchases than the other.

In reality, bringing our fiscal house into order is not that complicated or excruciatingly painful at all. If we simply kept spending at current levels, by their definition of "cuts" that would save nearly $400 billion in the next few years, versus the $25 billion the Budget Control Act claims to "cut". It would only take us 5 years to "cut" $1 trillion, in Washington math, just by holding the line on spending. That is hardly austere or catastrophic.

A balanced budget is similarly simple and within reach if Washington had just a tiny amount of fiscal common sense. Our revenues currently stand at approximately $2.2 trillion a year and are likely to remain stagnant as the recession continues. Our outlays are $3.7 trillion and projected to grow every year. Yet we only have to go back to 2004 for federal outlays of $2.2 trillion, and the government was far from small that year. If we simply returned to that year's spending levels, which would hardly be austere, we would have a balanced budget right now. If we held the line on spending, and the economy actually did grow as estimated, the budget would balance on its own by 2015 with no cuts whatsoever.

We pay 35 percent more for our military today than we did 10 years ago, for the exact same capabilities. The same could be said for the rest of the government. Why has our budget doubled in 10 years? This country doesn't have double the population, or double the land area, or double anything that would require the federal government to grow by such an obscene amount.

In Washington terms, a simple freeze in spending would be a much bigger "cut" than any plan being discussed. If politicians simply cannot bear to implement actual cuts to actual spending, just freezing the budget would give the economy the best chance to catch its breath, recover and grow.

LIRR conductor who retired in April,2010 earned $239,148 - Here you go your LIRR fare hike question answered !

2011-06-03T23:27:00.001-04:00

Wonder why a round trip to City in LIRR cost your so much ? LIRR conductor who retired in April,2010 made $239,148, about $4,000 more than the authority’s chief financial officer, according to payroll data.

Can we please ask why we need to raise taxes and LIRR fares? Why do we need to pay a conductor even more than 50k is beyond my comprehension. Just because he was on the job for 40 yrs? And after all that LIRR has budget shortfall which leads to service cuts. Central Islip teachers highest pay after contracts expire will be around 173k in 3 to 4 years from now. Why ? Don't you think for 80K we can get a good teacher?

But the authority, which employs about 70,000 workers over all, cannot significantly reduce its labor costs without concessions from its unions, which say their workers deserve their compensation for difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs. WOW! If being a conductor is really dangerous then we must pay our soldiers more than million.

And after all that we still need to pay FAT benefits and pensions. What a waste of tax money.Say NO to any tax raise if this is where your money will end up while at the same time average Long Islanders is struggling to make ends meet.

Published by Michael M. Grynbaum for New York Times

In an era of generous municipal salaries and union-friendly overtime rules, it may not come as a complete shock that there are thousands of Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees — 8,074, to be precise — who made $100,000 or more last year.

The usual top-level managers are included in that list, but so are dozens of lower-level employees, including conductors, police officers and engineers, many of whom pulled in six figures in overtime and retirement benefits alone.

One of those workers, a Long Island Rail Road conductor who retired in April, made $239,148, about $4,000 more than the authority’s chief financial officer, according to payroll data released on Wednesday.

In fact, more than a quarter of the Long Island Rail Road’s 7,000 employees earned more than $100,000 last year, including the conductor, Thomas J. Redmond, and two locomotive engineers — who were among the top 25 earners in the entire transportation authority.

The authority is readying service cuts to close a budget shortfall of $400 million, and its chairman, Jay H. Walder, has said he plans to reel in runaway overtime costs, which pile up to $560 million annually.

But the authority, which employs about 70,000 workers over all, cannot significantly reduce its labor costs without concessions from its unions, which say their workers deserve their compensation for difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs.

The payroll data, compiled from records obtained by the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a research group run by the Manhattan Institute, reflect total compensation. An exact breakdown was not available for most employees, but transit officials said that overtime and retirement payouts appeared to account for most of the high salaries.

Two car repairmen at the L.I.R.R. and 12 police officers assigned to the authority’s bridges and tunnels, some of whom earned more than double their base salaries, were among the 50 employees at the authority who collected $200,000 or more, the data show.

Mr. Redmond, the retired conductor, was the eighth-highest paid employee in the entire authority, ranking 16 spots higher than his railroad’s executive vice president. He earned $67,772 in base salary and $67,000 in overtime, and collected nearly $100,000 in unused sick days and vacation time upon retirement, railroad officials said.

The second-highest paid employee at the agency’s bridge and tunnel division, after its president, was Walter Stock, a lieutenant who earned $226,383, more than twice his base pay of $90,000, according to the data.

At No. 17 was Dominick J. Masiello, an L.I.R.R. locomotive engineer, who earned about $75,000 in base salary and overtime payments of $52,000. He also received $94,600 in “penalty payments,” which railroad officials said stemmed from a contractual rule that requires engineers who work in a storage yard to be paid extra if they are assigned to move a locomotive to a nearby maintenance facility or if they are asked to operate a train outside of the yard.

Compensation varied widely within the authority’s various divisions. About 24 percent of Metro-North Railroad workers earned more than $100,000, along with 18 percent of bridge and tunnel workers, the data show. At the authority’s biggest sub-agency, New York City Transit, only 6 percent of workers earned six figures.

The authority did not contest the figures, but officials said they were planning stricter management oversight and more aggressive vetting of overtime requests. About 3,000 workers will lose their jobs through layoffs, buyouts, or attrition this year.

For midcareer employees, the authority “is pretty much establishing a six-figure norm,” said Edmund J. McMahon, the director of the Empire Center, which tracks pension costs.

The union that represents most Long Island Rail Road workers did not return a call for comment.

Helena E. Williams, the president of the L.I.R.R., was the authority’s highest-paid employee last year, earning $286,872. (Ms. Williams briefly served as chief executive of the transportation authority last year.) Mr. Walder, who began in October, now earns $350,000 a year as chairman, as well as a $3,500 monthly housing allowance.

Over all, the authority workers’ average pay rose about 2.4 percent last year. Management salaries were frozen. Around 60 percent of the authority’s current budget — about $7 billion — is used to pay labor costs including payroll, pensions, and overtime.

Long Island School Budget Vote 2011-2012 Results

2011-05-31T20:33:00.013-04:00

Long Island School Budget Vote is
May 17th, 2011

See full results Ranked by margin of Victory !

Click here for your school district budget Increase !

School property taxes across Long Island are going rise sharply. Schools are trying to plug the hole left by New York state financial aid cut and escalating public employee benefits.

Most of the proposed school budgets are basically taking the money from taxpayers to fill up the employee benefits along with reduced serivces and bigger class sizes thru layoffs. The cost of benefits is going parabolic and without reforms it is going to lead poor education, rising taxes and declicing home values due to rise in property tax making homes less affordable.

Average School Tax increases this year

Long Island 3.96%
Nassau 3.42%
Suffolk 4.54%

95% of LI school budgets pass

With all but Lawrence reporting, more than 95 percent of budgets passed on Tuesday, with proposals rejected in Seaford, Oyster Bay, Westbury, Locust Valley and Fishers Island.

The Seaford, Oyster Bay, Westbury and Locust Valley budget proposals carried significant hikes to the local tax levy -- 8.99 percent in Seaford, 5.4 percent in Oyster Bay, 5.5 percent in Westbury, and 5.81 percent in Locust Valley. The Oyster Bay district is also reeling from school officials' announcement that Oyster Bay High School students will have to retake four Advanced Placement exams. The results were invalidated by the College Board because the school violated a seating policy for test takers, officials said.

Seaford voter Dan O'Brien, 63, said he doesn't usually vote in school elections. But this year, Seaford's nearly 9 percent proposed tax levy increase drove him to the polls despite the afternoon's rain. "I can't go for it, not this time around," he said. "It's become too much."

The message he wanted to send was "they should be a little bit more careful with our money." O'Brien said high taxes were "tough" on both older residents such as him and the younger generation.

"I don't know how they're going to be able to stay here," he said of younger Long Islanders.

Budgets barely passed in a pair of districts where heavy proposed tax increases made passage a hard sell. In Central Islip, where an average home will see a 6.55 percent tax increase, the budget passed by nine votes of more than 1,900 cast, in the unofficial count. In William Floyd, where taxes will rise 12.48 percent for an average home, the budget passed by 15 votes, 2,500-2,485.

In Huntington, the budget passed, but school board president Bill Dwyer was defeated in his re-election bid. Challengers Jennifer Hebert and Adam Spector defeated Dwyer and two other challengers for three-year terms.

Dwyer cast the deciding vote in the school board's controversial decision to close Jack Abrams Intermediate School.

"I haven't seen any improvement in the schools and then they closed Jack Abrams," said voter Vera A. Knight, 60, a Huntington Station resident. "It seems to me the board ignored my community and closed the school. There was no respect. No one was listening, so the board needs to be changed. Some of these people must go."

In Middle County, where the budget passed, board vice president Susan Jacobson was defeated by challenger Daniel Hill, who said during the campaign that the district's per-student spending was too low.

All polls across Long Island were closed at 10 p.m.

The results came at the end of a day when voters considered many budget proposals that reflected deep cuts in state aid. Many residents said at the polls that they felt forced to choose between heavy tax increases and painful cuts to public education.

Proposed budgets total $10.8 billion in education spending in 2011-12, up 2.17 percent from current spending.

Tax levies, the total revenue raised by local property taxes, would rise an average of 3.96 percent Islandwide if all proposed budgets are approved.

The difference between spending and taxes is mostly because of record cuts in state aid to schools totaling $206 million. The reduction includes $89 million in federal jobs money that is not being renewed next year.

On the Island, school taxes account for more than 60 percent of property taxes. Those bills rank among the nation's highest.

In response to the funding crunch, districts' proposed budgets call for slashing more than 2,000 jobs in the coming school year, including more than 1,200 teachers, Newsday found in its annual survey of spending and staffing plans. That would be the biggest wave of staff reductions since the early 1990s.

Few voters at the West Babylon school district's administration building claimed to be happy with a proposed budget that hikes taxes 6.46 percent and eliminates 54 staff positions.

But they were unhappy for different reasons. Some, like Kim McLasky, a classroom aide whose job is one of those being cut, voted for a budget she described as too harsh; retirees Vicky and Joe Miller rejected that same budget because it was "ridiculously high."

McLasky worried that the new budget would weaken music and art, programs she said are worth the money. "I feel the pinch," she said. "We're struggling, but I'm not going to take it out on my child. I'll cut back another way."

Despite some heavy tax increases on the table, some districts struggled with low turnout at midday because of steady rain. Barbara Horsley, assistant superintendent of the Farmingdale school district, said voter turnout was "slightly less" than expected due to the rainy weather.

But many voters who did show up were not shy about expressing their opinions on planned tax increases and proposals to shed staff and programs.

At Howitt Middle School in Farmingdale, voter Thomas Reddy scoffed at the idea that a district plan to trim 39 positions was too deep a cut. Reddy said high teacher salaries have contributed to the need for budget cuts in the district.

"Staff cuts? These guys are making a fortune," Reddy said.

Julianna Difruscio, 20, a nanny whose parents are teachers and who plans on becoming a teacher herself, voted for the West Babylon budget. She was unhappy, though, about reduced funding for special education programs, and said she would have made heavier cuts to sports before touching those programs.

"They can throw balls, but can they read?" she said of the district's students.

Brentwood district officials have said about 90 teaching positions will be eliminated through layoffs and attrition. Under the proposed budget, the high schools, middle schools and freshman center will revert to an eight-period day, and about half of the sports teams -- including all ninth-grade junior varsity teams -- will be eliminated.

Carmelo Gonzalez, 48, a graduate of Brentwood High School, said he voted down the budget and thinks the school could do a lot better.

"I don't want to see the superintendent getting pay increases," he said. "They should be putting some of that aside for the kids. Most of the teachers I have heard are willing to take a pay freeze so that should translate to the top."

Carmen Hannibal, 65, a Bay Shore resident who has lived in the Brentwood district for 30 years, said while taxes are high she would vote for the budget because she didn't want school programs cut. "My youngest's 30. We moved here to better ourselves and if we can't do good by the kids, what's the point?"

At Lindenhurst Middle School, the voter turnout was steady throughout the day, said chief inspector Michele Claud. "It's definitely a big turnout," Claud said. Claud reported about 500 people had voted by 4 p.m.

Voters were torn between approving a hefty 6.89 percent tax increase or rejecting the budget and facing significant program cuts.

"I just thought about the kids and the things they would be taking away from them," said Pam Doyle, 61, in explaining her vote for the budget.

"I don't want austerity for the kids," said Alice Weckerle, 87. "My kids were on austerity and it was not fun. So they'll get my vote for the budget every time."

Weckerle's husband, Kenneth, 87, said he would have preferred to not vote for the budget. "But if you don't vote for it, then they come back and many times they add on to it and stick it down your throat," he said.

Despite a sizable tax increase and a reduction in dozens of teaching positions, many Central Islip residents said they voted to approve the budget.

Jill Falcone, 58, a patient account representative, voted for the budget in part because officials managed to decrease the budget by 2.5 percent while keeping several school programs.

"It's not going up from last year, so I can't complain," she said of the budget.

Meanwhile she said she voted to elect some new school board members who she hopes will better negotiate labor issues with teachers, she said. "I'm just hoping for a fresh set of people who might look at things differently," she said.

However, Joanne Aramini, 52, voted against the budget. "I don't want taxes to go up," she said. "Everything else is going up but our salaries. I'm sick and tired of paying for things that aren't happening. The schools aren't getting better and the kids aren't getting smarter." She said she hopes if the budget fails, officials will come up with better ways of "cutting fat instead of cutting programs."

Read complete article here ...

Voters face another dilemma:

A growing number of districts are signaling that they intend to boost taxes higher next year if budgets are defeated at the polls than if budgets are approved.
Some schools like middle country is blackmailing its residents to pass the 6.68% increase or face 21.61% increase under contingency budget.

Last year only 10 budgets failed, let's see what happens this year...
Nothing happened only fewer failed this time !

Click here to see Long Island School Budget 2010-2011 Results

Source: Newsday

Long Island School Tax Levy data for school years 2003-04 to 2008-09

2011-05-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

The following chart provide School spending and tax levy summary data for the five school years 2003-04 to 2008-09.

School spending and tax levies have grown in each of these years. Note thajavascript:void(0)t the tax levy estimates provided on the Real Property Tax Report Cards includes the portion of the tax levy that is paid by the State through the STAR program.
The rate of growth in spending has fallen over the past four years from 7.5 percent between 2003-04 and 2004-05 to 5 percent between 2007-08 to 2008-09
Tax levy has increased from $6.32 billion in 2003-04 to $7.04 billion in 2008-09 but the rate of growth in the tax levy has fallen from 8.6 percent to 3.9 percent.

School taxes are the largest component of local property taxes, which on Long Island are oppressively high. Indeed, Long Islanders consistently name property taxes as our region’s Number One problem.

According to a 2006 study by the Long Island Index, Long Island property taxes are 2.5 times the national average.

Source: Long Island Index

Migration flow out of New York to other states amounted to a loss of $4.3 billion during 2006-2007

2011-05-30T01:09:00.000-04:00

The tax situation is not getting any better after 4 years. The local property taxes have been going up every year along with declining home prices. What's the incentive of Staying in New York any more ? Pay more in taxes as the tax base keeps shrinking and escalating burden of Public employee benefits resulting in less Services to the average citizen. It's time to move on ...

New Yorkers are fleeing the state and city in alarming numbers -- and costing a fortune in lost tax dollars, a new study shows.

More than 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the United States from 2000 to 2008, according to the report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy. It was the biggest out-of-state migration in the country.

The vast majority of the migrants, 1.1 million, were former residents of New York City -- meaning one out of seven city taxpayers moved out.

"The Empire State is being drained of an invaluable resource -- people," the report said. What's worse is that the families fleeing New York are being replaced by lower-income newcomers, who consequently pay less in taxes. Overall, the ex-New Yorkers earn about 13 percent more than those who moved into the state, the study found.

And it should be no surprise that the city -- and Manhattan in particular -- suffered the biggest loss in terms of taxable income.

The average Manhattan taxpayer who left the state earned $93,264 a year. The average newcomer to Manhattan earned only $72,726. That's a difference of $20,538, the highest for any county in the state. Staten Island was second, with a $20,066 difference.

It all adds up to staggering loss in taxable income. During 2006-2007, the "migration flow" out of New York to other states amounted to a loss of $4.3 billion.

The study used annual US Census reports, which showed which states had increased population, combined with Internal Revenue Service data, which show which states, cities and counties had lost people.

While New York City and the state were the losers, the Sunshine and Garden States were winners. more than 250,000 New Yorkers who lived in and around the city fled to Florida. Another 172,000 city taxpayers ended up in New Jersey.

Why all the moving vans?The center, part of the conservative Manhattan Institute, blames the state's high cost of living and high taxes.

The study also revealed surprising details about how city residents moved from borough to borough.

Manhattan lost 64,480 taxpayers, and more than half -- 34,383 -- went to The Bronx. Brooklyn lost 68,951 taxpayers -- including 43,688 who went to Staten Island.

The study also had some good news. The peak loss of New Yorkers was in 2005, when nearly 250,000 residents left the state. But last year, only 126,000 left, the lowest figure over the eight-year period.

Published by ANDY SOLTIS New York Post

Long Island per pupil spending 2008-2009, Ranked Highest to Lowest

2011-05-26T23:43:00.000-04:00

The average per pupil spending for Long Island is $23,972 according to Census data and $24,252 according to State Department of Education data. The average per pupil spending for Nassau County is $21,883 according to Census data and $23,172 according to State Department of Education data. The average per pupil spending for Suffolk County is $25,693 according to Census data and $25,183 according to State Department of Education data.

This chart shows U.S. Census and New York State Department of Education figures for enrollment and per-pupil spending, by district, for Long Island's 124 public school districts. The figures are from the 2008-09 school year, the most recent available.

Census officials said differences between the two sets of figures could result, in part, from enrollment variations over the course of the school year. The Census enrollment figures were taken in October 2008; the Education Department figures were average daily enrollments. In addition, the Census figures exclude certain education costs, such as payments public school districts made to charter schools to cover the costs of attendance by district students, a bureau official said.

Rank	District	Enrollment (Census)	Per pupil spending (Census)	Enrollment (State Ed.)	Per pupil spending (State Ed.)
1	Fire Island	37	103,838.00	69	92,144.00
2	Bridgehampton	141	66,957.00	167	72,146.00
3	New Suffolk	9	59,667.00	0	0.00
4	Wainscott	19	57,421.00	0	0.00
5	Amagansett	101	49,673.00	162	43,868.00
6	Sagaponack	18	46,167.00	0	0.00
7	Fishers Island	64	43,234.00	70	47,790.00
8	Remsenburg-Speonk	186	37,323.00	390	30,238.00
9	Quogue	115	37,061.00	184	37,400.00
10	Island Park	674	36,018.00	1059	30,689.00
11	Oyster Ponds	104	35,577.00	217	28,721.00
12	Montauk	316	33,459.00	494	33,522.00
13	Shelter Island	276	30,714.00	313	40,047.00
14	Lawrence	3125	30,478.00	3756	31,144.00
15	Sag Harbor	877	30,101.00	1062	32,759.00
16	Jericho	3132	29,717.00	3741	29,724.00
17	Southampton	1607	29,362.00	1790	30,177.00
18	Tuckahoe	363	29,245.00	543	31,222.00
19	East Hampton	1819	29,119.00	2127	30,702.00
20	Mineola	2681	27,521.00	2974	31,747.00
21	Wyandanch	2034	27,351.00	2575	26,016.00
22	Hewlet-Woodmere	3081	26,619.00	3664	30,501.00
23	Locust Valley	2262	26,605.00	2622	29,166.00
24	Long Beach	4014	26,325.00	4179	29,642.00
25	Great Neck	6438	26,316.00	7142	29,002.00
26	Oyster Bay-East Norwich	1644	26,020.00	1860	28,456.00
27	Carle Place	1465	25,992.00	1751	27,043.00
28	Malverne	1644	25,779.00	1951	26,127.00
29	North Shore	2885	25,594.00	3248	29,497.00
30	Central Islip	6422	25,365.00	7282	26,060.00
31	Manhasset	3019	25,360.00	3368	28,141.00
32	Amityville	2737	25,079.00	3266	24,896.00
33	Syosset	6671	24,609.00	7655	25,990.00
34	Roslyn	3418	24,579.00	3820	26,234.00
35	East Williston	1841	24,524.00	2084	26,070.00
36	Port Jefferson	1337	24,186.00	1410	26,622.00
37	Westbury	4086	24,058.00	4532	23,391.00
38	Hempstead	6090	23,908.00	7232	23,427.00
39	Cold Spring Harbor	2065	23,865.00	2260	25,556.00
40	Uniondale	6287	23,766.00	7029	24,450.00
41	Port Washington	4973	23,077.00	5793	24,209.00
42	Huntington	4384	22,977.00	4970	23,467.00
43	Rockville Centre	3546	22,932.00	3973	24,642.00
44	West Hempstead	2270	22,903.00	2793	22,732.00
45	East Rockaway	1239	22,894.00	1526	25,045.00
46	East Quogue	457	22,818.00	900	22,715.00
47	Plainview-Old Bethpage	5088	22,637.00	5936	23,678.00
48	Westhampton Beach	1799	22,298.00	2112	24,993.00
49	Greenport	621	22,219.00	720	21,913.00
50	Springs	630	21,886.00	944	25,003.00
51	Glen Cove	2960	21,777.00	3440	23,534.00
52	Levittown	7707	21,740.00	8909	22,846.00
53	Roosevelt	2803	21,726.00	3453	24,585.00
54	Southold	958	21,475.00	1158	22,160.00
55	Copiague	4592	21,415.00	5568	20,281.00
56	Herricks	4069	21,291.00	4659	22,241.00
57	Farmingdale	6151	21,098.00	7132	21,247.00
58	Bellmore	1183	21,068.00	1320	22,489.00
59	Bay Shore	5741	21,003.00	6719	21,063.00
60	Riverhead	4712	20,946.00	5957	19,232.00
61	Northport-E Northport	6410	20,932.00	7039	22,808.00
62	South Huntington	5976	20,895.00	6735	21,027.00
63	Valley Stream 24	1072	20,794.00	1216	21,693.00
64	Bayport-Blue Point	2520	20,565.00	2831	23,377.00
65	Bethpage	3115	20,491.00	3516	22,158.00
66	Lynbrook	3008	20,299.00	3352	22,066.00
67	South Country	4563	20,280.00	5056	21,925.00
68	Mattituck-Cutchogue	1505	20,261.00	1727	21,818.00
69	Babylon	1855	20,212.00	2037	21,989.00
70	Freeport	6478	20,190.00	7212	20,849.00
71	Sayville	3399	20,180.00	3795	21,475.00
72	East Moriches	715	20,024.00	1183	20,724.00
73	East Meadow	7481	19,957.00	8662	20,760.00
74	Garden City	4188	19,937.00	4692	21,681.00
75	Hauppauge	4062	19,856.00	4531	21,226.00
76	Connetquot	6894	19,827.00	8021	21,789.00
77	Hampton Bays	1827	19,710.00	2123	22,534.00
78	Oceanside	6102	19,645.00	6935	21,585.00
79	Island Trees	2615	19,635.00	2989	19,982.00
80	Center Moriches	1577	19,556.00	1736	21,226.00
81	North Babylon	4839	19,473.00	5692	22,105.00
82	Deer Park	4458	19,413.00	4931	20,789.00
83	Longwood	9171	19,413.00	10656	20,696.00
84	Three Village	7737	19,331.00	8918	20,089.00
85	Baldwin	5329	19,269.00	6136	20,169.00
86	Shoreham-Wading River	2766	19,123.00	3270	19,682.00
87	Valley Stream 30	1398	19,114.00	1505	20,483.00
88	Merrick	1781	19,043.00	2081	20,878.00
89	North Bellmore	2219	19,010.00	2532	18,950.00
90	Valley Stream Central	4600	19,008.00	5026	20,956.00
91	Seaford	2611	18,996.00	3014	19,500.00
92	Massapequa	8149	18,936.00	8902	20,668.00
93	Hicksville	5437	18,866.00	6320	20,114.00
94	William Floyd	9483	18,540.00	11109	19,433.00
95	West Babylon	4519	18,521.00	5089	19,320.00
96	North Merrick	1323	18,469.00	1501	18,392.00
97	Commack	7830	18,353.00	8778	19,396.00
98	Brentwood	16304	18,230.00	18371	18,608.00
99	Half Hollow Hills	10126	18,167.00	11425	19,050.00
100	Bellmore-Merrick	6108	18,150.00	6740	18,812.00
101	Plainedge	3502	18,141.00	3891	20,375.00
102	Islip	3476	18,009.00	3809	18,179.00
103	East Islip	4991	17,822.00	5364	20,061.00
104	Lindenhurst	6926	17,811.00	8049	18,468.00
105	Mount Sinai	2605	17,766.00	2911	19,947.00
106	Comsewogue	3921	17,584.00	4542	17,857.00
107	Smithtown	10844	17,223.00	12297	19,506.00
108	Elwood	2613	17,165.00	2786	18,347.00
109	Valley Stream 13	2167	17,141.00	2492	17,513.00
110	West Islip	5520	17,043.00	6456	18,173.00
111	Eastport-South Manor	3877	17,006.00	4374	18,714.00
112	Sachem	15014	16,951.00	16588	18,535.00
113	Rocky Point	3519	16,928.00	4055	17,974.00
114	Miller Place	3111	16,893.00	3610	17,113.00
115	Kings Park	4057	16,880.00	4546	18,101.00
116	Sewanhaka	8462	16,796.00	9556	17,430.00
117	Harborfields	3686	16,734.00	4066	18,898.00
118	New Hyde Prk-Garden Cty Park	1629	16,637.00	1812	18,045.00
119	Middle Country	10979	16,573.00	12234	17,464.00
120	Patchogue-Medford	8617	16,056.00	9561	17,746.00
121	Wantagh	3659	16,055.00	4053	17,338.00
122	Elmont	4075	15,637.00	4355	16,648.00
123	Franklin Sqare	1910	14,677.00	2129	15,700.00
124	Floral-Park Bellerose	1616	13,643.00	1535	17,186.00

Source: Newsday.com

Five states with lowest per-pupil spending

2011-05-26T22:50:00.001-04:00

Five states, or state equivalent, with the lowest per-pupil spending in public school systems in 2009.

UTAH: $6,356
IDAHO: $7,092
ARIZONA: $7,813
OKLAHOMA: $7,885
TENNESSEE: $7,897

Source: Census Bureau

Top five states in per pupil spending

2011-05-26T22:40:00.001-04:00

The top five states, or state equivalent, with the highest per-pupil spending in public school systems in 2009.

NEW YORK: $18,126
WASHINGTON, D.C.: $16,408
NEW JERSEY: $16,271
ALASKA: $15,552
VERMONT: $15,175

Source: Census Bureau

New York leads in student spending but lags in SAT scores

2011-05-26T21:35:00.002-04:00

New York state spent more money per student in its public schools than any other state in the nation in 2009, according to a Census Bureau report released Wednesday

New York averaged $18,126 in per-pupil spending, according to the census data, far higher than the national average of $10,499 per student. A Newsday analysis of census data also showed the spending average among Long Island's 124 school districts was even higher -- $23,972.

Some local educators say the spending averages for both Long Island and the state have resulted in education excellence, but also reflect the higher regional costs for the state and the Island. But others worry rising education costs cannot continue unchecked. One check may come from a tentative 2 percent property tax cap agreement reached by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state lawmakers Tuesday.

Education Excellence ? Are you sure?
New York Ranks 46th in Mean 2010 SAT Scores by State. In addition to that New York SAT scores have fallen over the last decade 2000-2010 in Reading by 10 and Math by 7. Even in States with 60% Participation Rate or Higher New York is ranked 13th.

"There's too much of a tax burden and we have been fed the myth that more money equals better education and better teaching," said Andrea Vecchio, an activist with the East Islip TaxPAC. "Not true."

One explanation for the higher spending in New York and other nearby states, said Gary Bixhorn, chief operating officer of Eastern Suffolk BOCES, is the higher costs in Northeast states. And Long Island, Bixhorn added, is a high cost region within New York, where costs are 43 percent higher than the lowest cost region.

"When you adjust for those regional costs differences, the per pupil expenditure tends to be close to the state median," Bixhorn said. He added that higher spending has meant better education in New York State and on Long Island.

Nevertheless, John Cameron, chairman of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, which has made reforms in education costs a priority, said continued increases cannot be sustained. Cameron also said because of state education aid cuts and the tentative 2 percent property tax cap agreement, he feared educational quality could diminish in poorer Long Island school districts.

"We needed to do something," Cameron said, applauding the tax cap. "Now the tough work begins: how do districts live within the tax cap and reduced state funding and still not reduce the quality of education?"

Read complete article here ...
Published by By OLIVIA WINSLOW at Newsday.com

SAT scores by State 2010 - 10 Year Trend from 2000 - 2010

2011-05-26T21:19:00.000-04:00

Basically New York spends the highest per pupil and gets 46th Rank in Mean 2010 SAT Scores by State. In addition to that New York SAT scores have fallen over the last decade 2000-2010 in Reading by 10 and Math by 7.

States with 60% Participation Rate or Higher New York is ranked 13th.

The College Board has released the results of the 2010 SAT. New York lags the nation in total SAT score, even among states with high participation rates among students (states with low participation rates tend to score highly, as most students in those states take the ACT, and only very competitive college-bound students take the SAT).

New York state spent more money per student in its public schools than any other state in the nation in 2009, according to a Census Bureau report released Wednesday.

New York averaged $18,126 in per-pupil spending, according to the census data, far higher than the national average of $10,499 per student. A Newsday analysis of census data also showed the spending average among Long Island's 124 school districts was even higher -- $23,972.

CRM = Critical Reading Mean

MM  = Math Mean

WM  = Writing Mean

Participation		2010			2009			1-Year Change			2000		10-Year Change
State	Rate 2010*	CRM	MM	WM	CRM	MM	WM	Critical Reading	Math	Writing	CRM	MM	Critical Reading	Math
Maine	92%	468	467	454	468	467	455	0	0	-1	504	500	-36	-33
Massachusetts	86%	512	526	509	514	526	510	-2	0	-1	511	513	+1	+13
New York	85%	484	499	478	485	502	478	-1	-3	0	494	506	-10	-7
Connecticut	84%	509	514	513	509	513	512	0	+1	+1	508	509	+1	+5
New Hampshire	77%	520	524	510	523	523	510	-3	+1	0	520	519	0	+5
District of Columbia	76%	474	464	466	466	451	461	+8	+13	+5	494	486	-20	-22
New Jersey	76%	495	514	497	496	513	496	-1	+1	+1	498	513	-3	+1
Georgia	74%	488	490	475	490	491	479	-2	-1	-4	488	486	0	+4
Delaware	71%	493	495	481	495	498	484	-2	-3	-3	502	496	-9	-1
Pennsylvania	71%	492	501	480	493	501	483	-1	0	-3	498	497	-6	+4
Maryland	70%	501	506	495	500	502	495	+1	+4	0	507	509	-6	-3
Rhode Island	67%	494	495	488	498	496	494	-4	-1	-6	505	500	-11	-5
Virginia	67%	512	512	497	511	512	498	+1	0	-1	509	500	+3	+12
South Carolina	66%	484	495	468	486	496	470	-2	-1	-2	484	482	0	+13
Vermont	66%	519	521	506	518	518	506	+1	+3	0	513	508	+6	+13
Indiana	64%	494	505	477	496	507	480	-2	-2	-3	498	501	-4	+4
North Carolina	63%	497	511	477	495	511	480	+2	0	-3	492	496	+5	+15
Florida	59%	496	498	479	497	498	480	-1	0	-1	498	500	-2	-2
Hawaii	58%	483	505	470	479	502	469	+4	+3	+1	488	519	-5	-14
Oregon	54%	523	524	499	523	525	499	0	-1	0	527	527	-4	-3
Washington	54%	524	532	508	524	531	507	0	+1	+1	526	528	-2	+4
Texas	53%	484	505	473	486	506	475	-2	-1	-2	493	500	-9	+5
California	50%	501	516	500	500	513	498	+1	+3	+2	497	518	+4	-2
Alaska	48%	518	515	491	520	516	492	-2	-1	-1	519	515	-1	0
Nevada	43%	496	501	473	501	505	479	-5	-4	-6	510	517	-14	-16
Arizona	25%	519	525	500	516	521	497	+3	+4	+3	521	523	-2	+2
Montana	24%	538	538	517	541	542	519	-3	-4	-2	543	546	-5	-8
Ohio	21%	538	548	522	537	546	523	+1	+2	-1	533	539	+5	+9
Idaho	19%	543	541	517	541	540	520	+2	+1	-3	540	541	+3	0
Colorado	18%	568	572	555	568	575	555	0	-3	0	534	537	+34	+35
West Virginia	16%	515	507	500	511	501	499	+4	+6	+1	526	511	-11	-4
New Mexico	11%	553	549	534	553	546	534	0	+3	0	549	543	+4	+6
Tennessee	10%	576	571	565	571	565	565	+5	+6	0	563	553	+13	+18
Alabama	7%	556	550	544	557	552	549	-1	-2	-5	559	555	-3	-5
Louisiana	7%	555	550	547	563	558	555	-8	-8	-8	562	558	-7	-8
Minnesota	7%	594	607	580	595	609	578	-1	-2	+2	581	594	+13	+13
Illinois	6%	585	600	577	588	604	583	-3	-4	-6	568	586	+17	+14
Kansas	6%	590	595	567	581	589	564	+9	+6	+3	574	580	+16	+15
Kentucky	6%	575	575	563	573	573	561	+2	+2	+2	548	550	+27	+25
Utah	6%	568	559	547	559	558	540	+9	+1	+7	570	569	-2	-10
Michigan	5%	585	605	576	584	603	575	+1	+2	+1	557	569	+28	+36
Oklahoma	5%	569	568	547	575	571	557	-6	-3	-10	563	560	+6	+8
Wyoming	5%	570	567	546	567	568	550	+3	-1	-4	545	545	+25	+22
Arkansas	4%	566	566	552	572	572	556	-6	-6	-4	563	554	+3	+12
Missouri	4%	593	595	580	595	600	584	-2	-5	-4	572	577	+21	+18
Nebraska	4%	585	593	568	587	594	572	-2	-1	-4	560	571	+25	+22
North Dakota	4%	580	594	559	590	593	566	-10	+1	-7	588	609	-8	-15
Wisconsin	4%	595	604	579	594	608	582	+1	-4	-3	584	597	+11	+7
Iowa	3%	603	613	582	610	615	588	-7	-2	-6	589	600	+14	+13
Mississippi	3%	566	548	552	567	554	559	-1	-6	-7	562	549	+4	-1
South Dakota	3%	592	603	571	589	600	569	+3	+3	+2	587	588	+5	+15
All students	47%	501	516	492	501	515	493	0	+1	-1	505	514	-4	+2

Source: Collegeboard.com

Long Island School Debt, Ponzi game at play

2011-05-25T21:16:00.001-04:00

School debt soars on Long Island

Looks like a PONZI game to me. Keep on taking debt and enjoy the amenities and then pass the burden over to the next generation of long islanders. The very reason we are now crying foul about high property taxes today is due to this Ponzi game that was played by our previous residents.

They approved all the goodies to the school employees and now its our time pay those benefits and also pay the current employees if we want a decent education for our kids, double trouble. A Ponzi game works till its a pyramid, as soon as the base stops expanding it makes it unstable and ready to topple. Have fun While it lasts as we are not growing any faster and people are leaving Long Island and New York.

Long Island's school districts are saddled with $3.7 billion in long-term debt, the price of years of borrowing for construction and improvements ranging from solar panels and upgraded ventilation systems to science labs, refurbished auditoriums and updated athletic fields.

While the state picks up part of the tab -- in some cases, the majority of it -- property owners, too, are on the hook for this fixed cost, which is plugged into district budgets already straining under dramatic cuts in state aid and the expense of government mandates.

Debt service on the Island's school district bonds last year totaled $468.9 million, up from $146.1 million in 1990, according to the state Department of Education.

As with any IOU, the piper must be paid.

"The thing you have to consider is, what is the alternative?" said Wendell Chu, superintendent of the East Islip school district. "This type of debt that's being picked up is generally for capital projects that are not easy to include in regular budgets."

The annual debt service is a small piece of a school district's overall spending, which also includes state aid. Last year, debt service ate up 4.5 percent of total expenditures in the Island's districts -- up from 3.1 percent in 2000 and 3.8 percent in 1990.

In the 1990 fiscal year, Nassau and Suffolk school districts had a combined $542.6 million in outstanding bonds, according to data provided by the state comptroller's office. By 2010, those bonded debt obligations had grown to $3.7 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that's a 309 percent increase.

Consider Syosset as one example. When children were dismissed from Syosset's schools in the summer of 1990, paying off the district's long-term debt bonds would have taken about $7 from the pocket of every man, woman and child in the district. In 2010, the payoff was $1,389 per person. The district's bonded indebtedness grew in that time from $225,000 to $47.5 million.

Outpacing inflation rate

Still, borrowing by many districts has outpaced inflation. The state's growing obligation to fund a portion of school construction and renovation over the past decade prompted changes in law this year that will bring to the fore the trade-off between construction and other costs, such as hiring teachers.

Read the complete article here ...
Source: Newsday

How many days do Americans work just to Pay their Taxes

2011-05-25T20:43:00.000-04:00

According to a study done by Tax Foundation for Year 2011 we spend around 105 days to just pay our taxes. How many days do we work 52weeks * 5days a week = 260 days.

That mean (105/260)* 100 = 40.38%

Basically we spend 2/5th of our day just to pay taxes and some more for others who may work for cash only.

Click here for more Info ...
Source: Tax Foundation

Long Island School Budget Vote 2008-2009 Results, Ranked by margin of victory

2011-05-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

116 out of 124 LI school budgets pass

All but eight school budgets were passed Tuesday by voters on Long Island.
So when the State Aid was provided in 2008 the average tax increase was 3.87% and now in 2011 when there is cuts in State Aid in 2011 the tax increase is 2.97%.

A record amount of state aid led to some of the lowest spending and tax increase proposals in more than a decade. The districts asked for an average school tax increase of 3.87 percent and budgets called for an average increase in spending of 5.09 percent.

In Suffolk County, budget proposals were rejected in East Moriches, Hauppauge, Kings Park, Lindenhurst, Patchogue-Medford, Shelter Island and Shoreham-Wading River.

The sole Nassau County school district to suffer a defeat was Wantagh, which was rejected by less than 100 votes. The district was asking for a tax increase of 8.27 percent, the highest across the Island.

Some say the sagging economy combined with already high property taxes and school corruption scandals may have been a factor in the districts that voted down their budgets.

Rank	School District	YES Votes	NO Votes	Pass/Fail	(Pass-Fail)	(Diff)/Total Vote%
1	Patchogue-Medford	2100	2997	Fail	-897	-17.6
2	Shoreham-Wading River	1068	1390	Fail	-322	-13.1
3	Kings Park	1416	1754	Fail	-338	-10.66
4	Lindenhurst	1709	2093	Fail	-384	-10.1
5	Wantagh	1566	1692	Fail	-126	-3.87
6	East Moriches	559	581	Fail	-22	-1.93
7	Shelter Island	409	412	Fail	-3	-0.37
8	Hauppauge	951	956	Fail	-5	-0.26
9	Brentwood	1039	1036	Pass	3	0.14
10	Levittown	2036	1942	Pass	94	2.36
11	Longwood	1900	1770	Pass	130	3.54
12	Commack	2187	2029	Pass	158	3.75
13	Locust Valley	1210	1113	Pass	97	4.18
14	Hempstead	368	337	Pass	31	4.4
15	Hampton Bays	885	810	Pass	75	4.42
16	William Floyd	1447	1302	Pass	145	5.27
17	Bayport-Blue Point	950	840	Pass	110	6.15
18	Mount Sinai	741	651	Pass	90	6.47
19	East Rockaway	545	474	Pass	71	6.97
20	Northport-E. Northport	2872	2470	Pass	402	7.53
21	East Hampton	304	261	Pass	43	7.61
22	Sachem	3045	2592	Pass	453	8.04
23	West Babylon	973	825	Pass	148	8.23
24	Malverne	694	581	Pass	113	8.86
25	Hewlett-Woodmere	1680	1380	Pass	300	9.8
26	Massapequa	2930	2395	Pass	535	10.05
27	Three Village	2791	2265	Pass	526	10.4
28	North Merrick	526	423	Pass	103	10.85
29	Babylon	865	691	Pass	174	11.18
30	Mattituck-Cutchogue	877	699	Pass	178	11.29
31	Westbury	1070	839	Pass	231	12.1
32	Bay Shore	1587	1244	Pass	343	12.12
33	South Country	1623	1261	Pass	362	12.55
34	Valley Stream 30	1832	1423	Pass	409	12.57
35	Rockville Centre	1620	1255	Pass	365	12.7
36	Rocky Point	941	727	Pass	214	12.83
37	Comsewogue	716	553	Pass	163	12.84
38	Merrick	946	730	Pass	216	12.89
39	Baldwin	3221	2477	Pass	744	13.06
40	Cold Spring Harbor	556	424	Pass	132	13.47
41	North Bellmore	1060	808	Pass	252	13.49
42	Montauk	132	100	Pass	32	13.79
43	Wyandanch	154	116	Pass	38	14.07
44	Oceanside	1374	1023	Pass	351	14.64
45	Valley Stream 13	1117	831	Pass	286	14.68
46	Garden City	1057	786	Pass	271	14.7
47	Seaford	1481	1099	Pass	382	14.81
48	Floral Park-Bellerose	799	588	Pass	211	15.21
49	Port Washington	2955	2167	Pass	788	15.38
50	Plainview-Old Bethpage	1316	964	Pass	352	15.44
51	Eastport-South Manor	1154	842	Pass	312	15.63
52	Plainedge	2015	1469	Pass	546	15.67
53	Bellmore	839	606	Pass	233	16.12
54	Jericho	593	427	Pass	166	16.27
55	Oysterponds	135	97	Pass	38	16.38
56	Manhasset	1817	1302	Pass	515	16.51
57	Seaford	3422	2447	Pass	975	16.61
58	Remsenburg-Speonk	156	111	Pass	45	16.85
59	Westhampton Beach	345	243	Pass	102	17.35
60	East Quogue	462	324	Pass	138	17.56
61	Mineola	1164	816	Pass	348	17.58
62	Roosevelt	367	257	Pass	110	17.63
63	East Islip	2598	1800	Pass	798	18.14
64	Herricks	1536	1063	Pass	473	18.2
65	New Hyde Park-Garden City Park	1045	723	Pass	322	18.21
66	Copiague	1095	755	Pass	340	18.38
67	Hicksville	1468	1009	Pass	459	18.53
68	Miller Place	1176	808	Pass	368	18.55
69	Island Park	497	341	Pass	156	18.62
70	Springs	420	285	Pass	135	19.15
71	Oyster Bay-E. Norwich	968	655	Pass	313	19.29
72	Southampton	615	415	Pass	200	19.42
73	Valley Stream 24	432	291	Pass	141	19.5
74	North Babylon	1465	971	Pass	494	20.28
75	Central Islip	878	579	Pass	299	20.52
76	Syosset	2186	1441	Pass	745	20.54
77	Uniondale	409	268	Pass	141	20.83
78	East Meadow	1982	1297	Pass	685	20.89
79	Half Hollow Hills	1404	888	Pass	516	22.51
80	Farmingdale	1999	1248	Pass	751	23.13
81	Franklin Square	938	584	Pass	354	23.26
82	Baldwin	1347	832	Pass	515	23.63
83	Harborfields	1725	1065	Pass	660	23.66
84	Long Beach	1599	985	Pass	614	23.76
85	Riverhead	1842	1134	Pass	708	23.79
86	Amityville	597	364	Pass	233	24.25
87	Middle Country	2044	1236	Pass	808	24.63
88	Elmont	1028	619	Pass	409	24.83
89	Roslyn	1024	605	Pass	419	25.72
90	Freeport	913	538	Pass	375	25.84
91	Center Moriches	707	411	Pass	296	26.48
92	Southold	695	403	Pass	292	26.59
93	Tuckahoe	168	97	Pass	71	26.79
94	Huntington	1713	983	Pass	730	27.08
95	Carle Place	552	314	Pass	238	27.48
96	Elwood	1160	659	Pass	501	27.54
97	Connetquot	1677	950	Pass	727	27.67
98	Valley Stream 30	440	249	Pass	191	27.72
99	Lynbrook	1103	624	Pass	479	27.74
100	Amagansett	64	36	Pass	28	28
101	Port Jefferson	796	446	Pass	350	28.18
102	Bethpage	1168	644	Pass	524	28.92
103	South Huntington	1683	928	Pass	755	28.92
104	Sayville	1630	862	Pass	768	30.82
105	West Hempstead	915	477	Pass	438	31.47
106	Deer Park	1341	688	Pass	653	32.18
107	Islip	1705	868	Pass	837	32.53
108	North Shore	1423	677	Pass	746	35.52
109	Sag Harbor	893	424	Pass	469	35.61
110	Bridgehampton	244	114	Pass	130	36.31
111	Island Trees	699	315	Pass	384	37.87
112	Smithtown	3909	1548	Pass	2361	43.27
113	West Islip	2376	930	Pass	1446	43.74
114	Fishers Island	109	41	Pass	68	45.33
115	East Williston	1558	567	Pass	991	46.64
116	Great Neck	1415	333	Pass	1082	61.9
117	Fire Island	106	24	Pass	82	63.08
118	Greenport	278	58	Pass	220	65.48
119	Lawrence	2638	494	Pass	2144	68.45
120	Quogue	84	15	Pass	69	69.7
121	New Suffolk	53	7	Pass	46	76.67
122	Wainscott	26	3	Pass	23	79.31
123	Sagaponack	25	2	Pass	23	85.19

Source: News12.com

Loopholes in New York Tax Cap proposed by Assembly

2011-05-25T19:04:00.000-04:00

The Democratic-controlled state Assembly today released its plan to cap the growth of property taxes at 2 percent a year.

It has lot of loopholes and in now way it's going to control the rampant increase in property taxes. For example, Pension payments that grow more than 2 percent from the previous year would be exempt from the cap. How that helps? As we all know from this years budget all the money in tax levy is going towards pensions and benefits. These costs are rising year or year at 10% or more and will go exponential in near future.They are the main reason we are paying more in taxes each and losing teachers and services along the way.

State Senate signed off on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D-N.Y.) property tax cap proposal back in January, but it has become bogged down in the Assembly.

The new bill presented today by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver would add some exceptions for costs to be excluded from the cap, but its basic elements are similar to the legislation passed by the Senate.

The Assembly measure would exempt pension payments over 2 percent from the previous year and require 60 percent of voters to override the capped school tax levy. Also, the bill would allow for added costs if the tax base grows with more residents or businesses.

List of loopholes in NY tax cap proposal

The bill would limit increases in property taxes to 2 percent a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. Pension payments that grow more than 2 percent from the previous year would be exempt from the cap.
A so-called carry-over provision would allow school districts and local governments to go above the cap only if they were below it the year before.
School districts and governments would also be allowed to pierce the cap if there was growth in jobs and businesses in a community requiring more services.

Source: New12.com

Long Island School Budget Vote 2009-2010 Results, Ranked by margin of victory

2011-05-25T18:48:00.001-04:00

Long Islanders headed to the polls Tuesday for what's frequently referred to as the Super Tuesday of School Voting.Results as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday showed 118 budgets passing, two that failed and one tie. Last year, eight budgets failed to pass on the first vote.

In Shoreham-Wading River, residents shot down a spending plan that would've raised taxes by 27 percent – the highest by far on Long Island. There is no word yet if the budget will go back out for a re-vote. If not, the contingency budget will be put in place – a tax increase of 26 percent.

In Hempstead, the count was deadlocked at 401. Officials say they will check on affidavit ballots Wednesday. While the budget increase is just above the Long Island average, 48 teachers will lose their jobs in the proposed budget. School officials say if the district didn't layoff teachers, the budget increase would be 16 percent.

Overall, there were more than 400 races across the Island for school boards, propositions and school budgets in 124 districts up for vote Tuesday. The average proposed spending increase among Long Island's school districts is 2.72 percent.

Several other districts, including North Babylon, Sachem, Wyandanch and Brentwood, have also decided to lay off teachers in order to keep their budgets down.

Rank	School District	YES Votes	NO Votes	Pass/Fail	(Pass-Fail)	(Diff)/Total Vote%
1	Shoreham-Wading River	1238	2010	F	-772	-23.77
2	Patchogue-Medford	2041	2386	F	-345	-7.79
3	Remsenburg-Speonk	262	252	P	10	1.95
4	Miller Place	758	700	P	58	3.98
5	Levittown	2247	2072	P	175	4.05
6	Westbury	852	725	P	127	8.05
7	East Rockaway	576	488	P	88	8.27
8	East Islip	2314	1954	P	360	8.43
9	Brentwood	1091	892	P	199	10.04
10	Seaford	1446	1146	P	300	11.57
11	Carle Place	552	418	P	134	13.81
12	Cold Spring Harbor	424	321	P	103	13.83
13	Mattituck-Cutchogue	786	580	P	206	15.08
14	Valley Stream 30	1873	1374	P	499	15.37
15	Locust Valley	1350	988	P	362	15.48
16	Port Jefferson	407	297	P	110	15.63
17	Wyandanch	161	116	P	45	16.25
18	Commack	2632	1891	P	741	16.38
19	Port Washington	2785	1989	P	796	16.67
20	Elmont	950	678	P	272	16.71
21	South Country	1750	1248	P	502	16.74
22	Rocky Point	642	450	P	192	17.58
23	Northport-E. Northport	3260	2276	P	984	17.77
24	Floral Park-Bellerose	921	630	P	291	18.76
25	Middle Country	1749	1195	P	554	18.82
26	Manhasset	1599	1083	P	516	19.24
27	Sewanhaka	3648	2461	P	1187	19.43
28	Bayport-Blue Point	977	652	P	325	19.95
29	East Moriches	470	313	P	157	20.05
30	Kings Park	1777	1173	P	604	20.47
31	West Babylon	1207	785	P	422	21.18
32	Oyster Bay-E. Norwich	1121	725	P	396	21.45
33	East Quogue	395	253	P	142	21.91
34	Hewlett-Woodmere	1928	1234	P	694	21.95
35	Longwood	1914	1223	P	691	22.03
36	Massapequa	3301	2104	P	1197	22.15
37	Wantagh	2768	1752	P	1016	22.48
38	North Bellmore	1429	904	P	525	22.5
39	Westhampton Beach	319	201	P	118	22.69
40	Farmingdale	1963	1222	P	741	23.27
41	Mount Sinai	677	418	P	259	23.65
42	Lynbrook	993	612	P	381	23.74
43	Valley Stream 13	1156	712	P	444	23.77
44	Bellmore-Merrick	3611	2223	P	1388	23.79
45	Three Village	2569	1573	P	996	24.05
46	Plainedge	2162	1312	P	850	24.47
47	Tuckahoe	135	81	P	54	25
48	East Hampton	448	268	P	180	25.14
49	Valley Stream 30	439	262	P	177	25.25
50	Rockville Centre	1911	1140	P	771	25.27
51	Baldwin	1325	789	P	536	25.35
52	Malverne	862	509	P	353	25.75
53	Herricks	1385	817	P	568	25.79
54	Oceanside	1629	961	P	668	25.79
55	Riverhead	1950	1147	P	803	25.93
56	New Hyde Park	1117	651	P	466	26.36
57	Hicksville	1608	929	P	679	26.76
58	Hauppauge	1468	848	P	620	26.77
59	Hampton Bays	906	519	P	387	27.16
60	Island Park	382	218	P	164	27.33
61	Valley Stream 24	504	286	P	218	27.59
62	Central Islip	948	538	P	410	27.59
63	Merrick	932	526	P	406	27.85
64	Garden City	1185	665	P	520	28.11
65	Bay Shore	1497	838	P	659	28.22
66	Island Trees	869	486	P	383	28.27
67	Southampton	678	378	P	300	28.41
68	William Floyd	1545	850	P	695	29.02
69	North Merrick	624	343	P	281	29.06
70	Mineola	1088	595	P	493	29.29
71	Bellmore	877	479	P	398	29.35
72	Center Moriches	648	349	P	299	29.99
73	Long Beach	1789	963	P	826	30.01
74	North Babylon	1496	800	P	696	30.31
75	Southold	747	399	P	348	30.37
76	Eastport/South Manor	958	506	P	452	30.87
77	Syosset	2543	1336	P	1207	31.12
78	Comsewogue	770	392	P	378	32.53
79	Babylon	924	458	P	466	33.72
80	Sag Harbor	1211	599	P	612	33.81
81	Copiague	1177	570	P	607	34.75
82	West Hempstead	914	438	P	476	35.21
83	Half Hollow Hills	1816	865	P	951	35.47
84	Franklin Square	1071	509	P	562	35.57
85	Oysterponds	213	101	P	112	35.67
86	Plainview-Old Bethpage	2067	977	P	1090	35.81
87	East Meadow	2341	1106	P	1235	35.83
88	Uniondale	547	258	P	289	35.9
89	South Huntington	1884	888	P	996	35.93
90	Bridgehampton	325	150	P	175	36.84
91	Glen Cove	1207	553	P	654	37.16
92	Amityville	686	306	P	380	38.31
93	Smithtown	3244	1429	P	1815	38.84
94	Roosevelt	393	173	P	220	38.87
95	Lindenhurst	2777	1217	P	1560	39.06
96	East Williston	757	329	P	428	39.41
97	Jericho	1008	437	P	571	39.52
98	Huntington	1755	756	P	999	39.78
99	Elwood	1068	460	P	608	39.79
100	Shelter Island	304	127	P	177	41.07
101	Bethpage	1263	519	P	744	41.75
102	Sachem	3231	1310	P	1921	42.3
103	Roslyn	1608	641	P	967	43
104	Montauk	141	56	P	85	43.15
105	Harborfields	1721	679	P	1042	43.42
106	Springs	327	128	P	199	43.74
107	Amagansett	106	40	P	66	45.21
108	Sayville	1431	538	P	893	45.35
109	Freeport	1270	464	P	806	46.48
110	Islip	1397	508	P	889	46.67
111	North Shore	1787	615	P	1172	48.79
112	Deer Park	1367	460	P	907	49.64
113	Connetquot	2459	743	P	1716	53.59
114	West Islip	1815	527	P	1288	55
115	Sagaponack	25	5	P	20	66.67
116	Great Neck	1499	259	P	1240	70.53
117	Quogue	80	12	P	68	73.91
118	Greenport	331	49	P	282	74.21
119	Wainscott	198	29	P	169	74.45
120	Fishers Island	42	5	P	37	78.72
121	Fire Island	146	13	P	133	83.65

Source: New12.com

Top 10 States with the Worst Paid Teachers

2011-05-22T22:24:00.000-04:00

This list includes the QualityCounts grades as well. Educational results are average as measured by the QualityCounts survey issued by Education Week.

1. South Dakota (D+)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $35,201
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.4 (14th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 290.61 (8th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 270.06 (8th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 94.3% (20th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.60% (24th)

Members of the South Dakota Senate are balking at Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s proposed 10% cut in education spending, a move that the South Dakota Education Association says would “devastate” public schools. “When you talk about a 10 percent cut in education, at this stage in the game in Rapid City, South Dakota, it is in some form or fashion affecting students,” Rapid City Board Director Dave Janak tells the Rapid City Journal. During his recent campaign Daugaard vowed to strengthen math and science education.

2. North Dakota (C)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $44,266
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 11.9 (6th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 292.84 (4th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 269.24 (10th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 92.6% (31st)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 7.19% (12th)

North Dakota legislators have proposed overhauling the state’s education system that would create a Department of Education starting Jan. 1, 2015, to oversee all aspects of public education. Proposed federal spending cuts would slash the budget of the Bismark School District by $6 million. Minot officials are also warning of cuts.

3. Missouri ( C)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $46,411
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.2 (11th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 285.8 (22nd)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 266.87 (17th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 92.6% (30th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.99% (16th)

Though state funding is remaining even, schools are losing ground because costs are beginning to rise, according to the Missouri School Boards’ Association. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch quotes Howell Board Member Cynthia Bice as saying “”This is like asking me which of my children are my favorite” when discussing possible layoffs. Kelvin Adams recently was awarded a three-year contract extension as superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools. Standardized test scores rose under his leadership.

4. Utah ( C-)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $46,571
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 22.3 (50th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 284.06 (28th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 265.59 (23rd)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 75.5% (50th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 5.23% (49th)

Legislators are considering a bill that would forbid school districts from employing a “last hired, first fired” approach toward layoffs. Gov. Gary Hebert has criticized lawmakers for cutting his proposed spending deeply. “A report by two Georgetown researchers indicated that 66 percent of all jobs in Utah — approximately 1 million — will require some post-secondary training or education beyond high school in 2018,” according to the Desert News.

5. Florida (B-)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $46,702
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 16 (38th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 279.33 (34th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 264.36 (30th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 94.5% (14th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 5.65% (44th)

Schools in Florida, who have slashed 12,000 jobs over the past 36 months, are worried that more layoffs would be needed under Gov. Rick Scott’s spending plan. If Scott’s proposal were to pass, that would mean that the Miami-Dade School District would need to cut $150 million and lay off some workers. The Florida Education Association has vowed to fight a bill in the Legislature that would tie all teacher pay to test scores because a “proven evaluation” system is not in place.

6. Mississippi (C-)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $46,818
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.8 (19th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 265 (50th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 251.3 (50th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 95.6% (10th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 4.85% (50th)

Gov. Haley Barbour recommended funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, or MAEP, the state’s education funding formula, at the current level of just more than $2 billion, the Hattiesburg American says. Biloxi Superintendent recently warned of possible teacher layoffs. In fact, the Associated Press noted that most of Mississippi’s 152 school districts have lost personnel, including teachers, principals and assistant principals.

7. North Carolina ( C+)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $46,850
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 14.74 (31st)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 284.33 (25th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 259.52 (37th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 92.4% (32nd)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.45% (27th)

The financial picture for North Carolina schools is bleaker now than it was at the start of the recession because federal stimulus money has dried up. That means budget cuts. ”Last week, Gov. Bev Perdue proposed a 3.9 percent reduction to public schools that spared cuts to classroom teachers and assistants, “ The Charlotte Observer says. “But it recommended trimming several thousand noninstructional positions, including administrators, office workers, janitors and bus drivers. ” Republicans who control the legislature are pushing for deeper cuts in education, the paper says.

8. New Mexico (C)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $46,950
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 14.94 (33rd)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 269.7 (48th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 254.12 (46th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 95.7% (9th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 5.92% (39th)

Gov. Susana Martinez believes that the $5.4 billion spending plan approved Friday by the House Appropriations and Finance Committee short changes education.. Last year, 24 school districts requested emergency financial help from the state. A bill that would tie teacher evaluations to student performance is pending before the Legislature.

9. Tennessee ( C+)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $47,043
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 14.67 (29th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 274.76 (42nd)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 260.94 (33rd)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 86% (44th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.68% (21st)

Memphis Superintendent Kriner Cash is moving on an “ambitious plan to begin six-day weeks for elementary school children, fast-track graduation options in high schools and the utilization of new technology,” according to the Commercial Appeal. Gov. Phil Bredesen’s proposed budget includes a $47 million increase for public schools. Representative Debra Young Maggart, a Republican recently introduced a bill that would forbid teachers’ unions from collective bargaining, a proposal which the New York Times says has left many teachers demoralized.

10. Kansas ( C)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $47,080
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.7 (18th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 288.59 (11th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 266.79 (19th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 94.5% (15th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.42% (28th)

Kansas officials have asked for relief from requirements of the No Child Left Behind law. More than five dozen school districts filed a class action suit in November over what they consider to be unconstitutional cuts in state aid. Governor Sam Brownbeck’s proposed budget cuts per-pupil for education spending.

Read more: The Ten States That Pay Teachers The Most (And Why It Doesn’t Matter)

Top 10 States with the Best Paid Teachers

2011-05-22T22:11:00.001-04:00

This list includes the QualityCounts grades as well. Educational results are average as measured by the QualityCounts survey issued by Education Week.

1. New York (B)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $72,708
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 11.8 (4th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 282.57 (31st)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 264.28 (31st)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 116.8% (1st)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.86% (18th)

Officials in New York City are investigating allegations that some city schools were manipulating test scores. Fourth and eighth graders in New York schools scored below national and state science exams. Governor Andrew Cuomo is reportedly interested in changing state law to allow merit to be considered in determining teacher layoffs.

2. Massachusetts ( B-)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $71,017
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.58 (15th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 298.85 (1st)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 273.58 (1st)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 94.4% (19th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.68% (20th)

Four-year graduation rates in the state’s public schools rose in 2010 for the fourth year in a row. Officials at the North Middlesex Regional School Committee are considering substantial job cuts. The Boston public schools want to close a $63 million shortfall by cutting about 250 positions, the Boston Globe says.

3. California ( C)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $69,434
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 21 (49th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 270.44 (46th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 252.63 (49th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 97.5% (6th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.35% (31st)

The Sacramento Bee summed up the dire situation this way: “More than 20,000 public school teachers in California have received pink slips during each of the last three years. The state’s ongoing economic and budget troubles mean that trend is likely to continue with upcoming March 15 layoff notices.” Teacher layoffs loom in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

4. New Jersey ( B-)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $66,985
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 11.8 (5th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 292.65 (5th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 272.8 (2nd)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 104.8% (2nd)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 7.21% (11th)

Relations between New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the New Jersey Education Agency border on the toxic. “Christie takes aim at your paycheck” is one of the kinder statements on the union’s website. Christie’s recently proposed budget includes a $250 million in additional funding for school, making up for the more than $800 million cut the previous year.

5. Connecticut ( C+)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $65,571
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13 (10th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 288.6 (10th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 271.81 (4th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 101.4% (4th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 7.29% (8th)

Governor Daniel Malloy’s proposed budget maintained spending levels for primary and secondary education though colleges and university funding was slashed. Hartford Superintendent Steven Adamowski’s plans to overhaul teacher tenure was thwarted by an arbitration panel. Layoffs loom in the New Haven district.

6. Maryland ( B+)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $65,113
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.7 (17th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 288.43 (32nd)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 267.29 (14th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 99.1% (5th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 7.26% (9th)

Only 1 in 2o fourth and eighth graders in Baltimore’s public schools was found to be proficient in science, according to the Baltimore Sun. Last year, officials in the Montgomery County district in the ritzy suburbs of Washington, D.C. decided to sell its curriculum to other school systems to help defray costs. Student-teacher ratios in Prince George’s County are due to widen because of staff cuts.

7. Illinois ( C)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $63,005
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 14.504 (27th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 282.43 (32nd)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 264.51 (29th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 94.2% (21st)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 6.27% (32nd)

8. Alaska (C-)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $61,093
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 14.502 (26th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 283.04 (30th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 249.44 (39th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 89.1% (41st)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 5.93% (38th)

The head of the Alaska teacher’s union recently called for the state to increase spending on education. Meanwhile, the Anchorage School District is proposing its most extensive cut in years, including layoffs to about 50 staff. Gov. Sean Parnell is undecided about whether to support legislation requiring school attendance from ages 6 to 18 instead of 7 and 16.

9. Rhode Island ( C)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $60,923
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.81 (20th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 277.92 (37th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 259.88 (36th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 85% (46th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 7% (15th)

Rhode Island was in the headlines last year after officials decided to fire all the teachers and principals at a struggling high school. The workers were later rehired after agreeing to a new evaluation system. Officials in Providence recently warned that more teacher layoffs are looming. In fact, the school board in Providence voted Friday to send out termination notices to the city’s 1,926 public school teachers as the city tries to close a $40 million budget deficit.

10. Pennsylvania (B-)

Average Salary 2010/2011: $60,536
# of Enrolled Students Per Teacher 2010/2011: 13.83 (22nd)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Math Score 2009: 288.3 (13th)
Average National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Score 2009: 270.7 (6th)
Average Daily Attendance as a % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 95.3% (11th)
High School Graduation Rate as % of Fall Enrollment 2010/2011: 7.75% (7th)

Former Governor Ed Rendell increased education spending by $250 million, boosting education funding by $4.6 billion a year for programs such as full-day kindergarten, preschool and tutoring assistance over his two terms in office. School districts in the state remain strapped for cash. Arlene Ackerman, the Superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, plans to work without pay for 20 days this year, 10 more than she had previously planned.

Read more: The Ten States That Pay Teachers The Most (And Why It Doesn’t Matter)

High teacher salaries equal better education for kids ?

2011-05-22T21:47:00.001-04:00

No so fast ? It works for Massachusetts but not for New York. New York teacher salaries are ranked No.1 but ranked 31st in Math(282.57) and Reading(264.28) Average National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Lost in the debate about collective bargaining rights and the related issues of pay, pensions, and health care coverage is the dialogue about a core issue. There is no clear correlation that better paid teachers produce better educated students.

Wisconsin teachers are among the most vocal opponents of Gov. Scott Walker's plan to curtail some collective bargaining rights. Though there is little doubt that good teachers improve student achievement, the evidence that well-compensated educators produce better prepared students is mixed. Wisconsin is a case in point.

Teachers in Wisconsin fare slightly worse than the national average with starting salaries of $32,642 and a maximum with a master's degree of $60,036. The Tax Foundation says its tax burden is the fourth worst in the U.S., and its QualityCounts ("QC") rating was a C+, about average. What the state underscores is how a dysfunctional system of teacher pay rewards educators with little emphasis on merit. Throwing more money at teachers, however, is not the answer to the myriad of problems affecting the nation's schools.

"I would love to say dramatically raise their pay," says Richard Lemons of the Education Trust, in an interview. He adds that there is no evidence yet that dramatically boosting a mediocre teachers' pay will inspire them to become better at their jobs. In theory, higher teacher pay will entice higher quality candidates into the professions, though there is little evidence that shows these people will be any more successful than current teachers.

Top 10 States with the Best Paid Teachers

Top 10 States with the Worst Paid Teachers

Click below to read complete article ...
Published by: Jonathan Berr for 24/7 Wall St

New Jersey's Citizens Pay the Most, New York Second, Alaska's Least

2011-05-22T19:21:00.003-04:00

Special report by Tax Foundation. For nearly two decades the Tax Foundation has published an estimate of the combined state-local tax burden shouldered by the residents of each of the 50 states. For each state, we calculate the total amount paid by the residents in taxes, then divide those taxes by the state's total income to compute a "tax burden."

Key Findings in the Report

• Taxpayers pay taxes not only to the state and local governments where they reside but also to out-of-state governments, both naturally and by design. Nationwide, over a quarter of all state and local taxes are collected from non-residents, and a true measure of the tax burden on the residents of any state must take this into account. This paper attempts to quantify the tax shifting across states and how it affects the distribution of state and local tax burdens.

• During fiscal year 2009, in the midst of a national recession, both income and taxes shrank, but taxes fell faster than incomes. The result was that tax burdens decreased from 9.9 percent in 2008 to 9.8 percent in 2009.

• In 2009, the residents of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut paid the highest state-local tax burdens in the nation. They're the only three states where taxpayers give up 12 percent or more of their income in state-local taxes, a full percentage point above the next highest state, Wisconsin.

• Alaskans, consistently the least taxed in the nation, again paid the least in 2009, just 6.3 percent. The next lowest state, over a full percentage point higher, is Nevada at 7.5 percent.

Click here to read the complete report ...
Source: Tax Foundation

Long Island School Budget Vote Analysis 2011-2012, Ranked by margin of victory

2011-05-18T17:55:00.006-04:00

Long Island school Vote Results for 2011-2012 ranked based on the margin of victory.

Data taken from news12.com and with the help of a friend got it to this format for easy look-up. You can now see where your school district ranks and how much was the win to loss difference. Its a overwhelming win, Last year 10 budgets failed and I was expecting more this year. Disappointed ! Looking at the data I don't think substantial number of budgets will fail in coming years.
But again it all depends on the economic recovery !

Voters across Long Island headed to the polls yetserday to decide whether or not to support their school district's budget proposals.

Many of the Island's 124 districts saw their budgets passed, but five district budgets were rejected. Voters in Suffolk County rejected the budget in Fishers Island. In Nassau County, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay-East Norwich, Seaford and Westbury voters rejected their budgets.

While most Long Island districts faced about a 4-percent school tax hike, some had to decide whether to support as much as a 12.5-percent school tax hike.

Voters in Herricks were asked to support a 3.8-percent school tax hike and they did. Despite the budget going through, the district, like many others across the Island, is still faced with losing more than 60 staffing positions due to state aid cuts.

Rank	School District	YES Votes	NO Votes	Pass/Fail	(Pass-Fail)	(Diff)/Total Vote%
1	Fishers Island	28	39	Fail	-11	-16.42
2	Seaford	1448	1881	Fail	-433	-13.01
3	Locust Valley	1192	1312	Fail	-120	-4.79
4	Westbury	642	683	Fail	-41	-3.09
5	OysterBay-East Norwich	1002	1036	Fail	-34	-1.67
6	William Floyd	2500	2485	Pass	15	0.3
7	Central Islip	977	968	Pass	9	0.46
8	Wyandanch	144	142	Pass	2	0.7
9	Port Jefferson	832	807	Pass	25	1.53
10	Tuckahoe	165	157	Pass	8	2.48
11	Lindenhurst	2154	2026	Pass	128	3.06
12	Remsenburg-Speonk	198	179	Pass	19	5.04
13	Brentwood	1172	1034	Pass	138	6.26
14	West Hempstead	1071	893	Pass	178	9.06
15	Malverne	747	615	Pass	132	9.69
16	Levittown	2967	2414	Pass	553	10.28
17	EastQuogue	366	292	Pass	74	11.25
18	Mattituck-Cutchogue	703	552	Pass	151	12.03
19	Springs	562	436	Pass	126	12.63
20	Sag Harbor	917	698	Pass	219	13.56
21	East Rockaway	714	540	Pass	174	13.88
22	Northport-EastNorthport	3114	2348	Pass	766	14.02
23	Hewlett-Woodmere	1809	1351	Pass	458	14.49
24	West Islip	2175	1617	Pass	558	14.72
25	North Merrick	716	525	Pass	191	15.39
26	Mineola	1633	1194	Pass	439	15.53
27	Massapequa	3249	2372	Pass	877	15.6
28	Plainedge	1657	1165	Pass	492	17.43
29	Herricks	2387	1678	Pass	709	17.44
30	Rockville Centre	1956	1369	Pass	587	17.65
31	Merrick	949	663	Pass	286	17.74
32	Patchogue-Medford	2442	1703	Pass	739	17.83
33	Three Village	3621	2519	Pass	1102	17.95
34	South Country	1709	1188	Pass	521	17.98
35	Southold	645	447	Pass	198	18.13
36	Valley Stream Central High	1943	1341	Pass	602	18.33
37	Valley Stream13	1112	763	Pass	349	18.61
38	New Hyde Park	1163	796	Pass	367	18.73
39	Lynbrook	1384	947	Pass	437	18.75
40	Bellmore-Merrick	3922	2675	Pass	1247	18.9
41	FranklinSquare	1134	773	Pass	361	18.93
42	Montauk	205	139	Pass	66	19.19
43	East Islip	2924	1952	Pass	972	19.93
44	Valley Stream30	465	308	Pass	157	20.31
45	Sayville	1937	1279	Pass	658	20.46
46	Elmont	1124	737	Pass	387	20.8
47	Sewanhaka	4628	3028	Pass	1600	20.9
48	Hauppauge	1703	1085	Pass	618	22.17
49	Manhasset	1479	940	Pass	539	22.28
50	Half Hollow Hills	1748	1110	Pass	638	22.32
51	Elwood	1779	1129	Pass	650	22.35
52	Bellmore	879	551	Pass	328	22.94
53	West Babylon	1546	962	Pass	584	23.29
54	Hampton Bays	977	598	Pass	379	24.06
55	IslandPark	425	260	Pass	165	24.09
56	Sachem	4960	3034	Pass	1926	24.09
57	Port Washington	3064	1847	Pass	1217	24.78
58	Riverhead	1936	1153	Pass	783	25.35
59	Farmingdale	1988	1181	Pass	807	25.47
60	GardenCity	1820	1081	Pass	739	25.47
61	Commack	2680	1585	Pass	1095	25.67
62	Bayport-BluePoint	1511	887	Pass	624	26.02
63	Freeport	1432	839	Pass	593	26.11
64	Southampton	621	363	Pass	258	26.22
65	Mount Sinai	1073	626	Pass	447	26.31
66	Island Trees	894	520	Pass	374	26.45
67	North Bellmore	1611	936	Pass	675	26.5
68	Connetquot	2330	1353	Pass	977	26.53
69	Cold Spring Harbor	758	438	Pass	320	26.76
70	BayShore	1940	1097	Pass	843	27.76
71	Glen Cove	1023	578	Pass	445	27.8
72	Center Moriches	958	539	Pass	419	27.99
73	Carle Place	725	407	Pass	318	28.09
74	Oceanside	1783	1000	Pass	783	28.14
75	Floral Park-Bellerose	1602	879	Pass	723	29.14
76	Hempstead	567	309	Pass	258	29.45
77	Plainview-OldBethpage	2095	1136	Pass	959	29.68
78	East Williston	831	450	Pass	381	29.74
79	Westhampton Beach	436	233	Pass	203	30.34
80	Babylon	981	524	Pass	457	30.37
81	Baldwin	1481	776	Pass	705	31.24
82	Uniondale	572	299	Pass	273	31.34
83	Shoreham-WadingRiver	1742	905	Pass	837	31.62
84	South Huntington	2135	1106	Pass	1029	31.75
85	Kings Park	1844	943	Pass	901	32.33
86	Oysterponds	138	70	Pass	68	32.69
87	Valley Stream24	501	254	Pass	247	32.72
88	Miller Place	1537	779	Pass	758	32.73
89	Roosevelt	293	148	Pass	145	32.88
90	Eastport-South Manor Central	1040	525	Pass	515	32.91
91	East Hampton	540	271	Pass	269	33.17
92	East Meadow	2117	1055	Pass	1062	33.48
93	Rocky Point	1039	515	Pass	524	33.72
94	Huntington	2318	1139	Pass	1179	34.1
95	Smithtown	4847	2342	Pass	2505	34.84
96	North Shore	1860	888	Pass	972	35.37
97	Wantagh	2353	1121	Pass	1232	35.46
98	Bethpage	1217	577	Pass	640	35.67
99	Harborfields	2068	979	Pass	1089	35.74
100	Deer Park	1362	634	Pass	728	36.47
101	Longwood	2571	1169	Pass	1402	37.49
102	North Babylon	1787	809	Pass	978	37.67
103	Copiague	1122	507	Pass	615	37.75
104	Long Beach	1674	742	Pass	932	38.58
105	Roslyn	879	372	Pass	507	40.53
106	Brookhaven-Comsewogue	1239	523	Pass	716	40.64
107	Amityville	939	385	Pass	554	41.84
108	Syosset	3413	1392	Pass	2021	42.06
109	East Moriches	424	172	Pass	252	42.28
110	Bridgehampton	136	55	Pass	81	42.41
111	Amagansett	135	52	Pass	83	44.39
112	Islip	1831	674	Pass	1157	46.19
113	Jericho	1092	399	Pass	693	46.48
114	Quogue	79	28	Pass	51	47.66
115	Shelter Island	383	132	Pass	251	48.74
116	Middle Country	2988	942	Pass	2046	52.06
117	Lawrence	3187	792	Pass	2395	60.19
118	GreatNeck	1338	316	Pass	1022	61.79
119	Greenport	282	65	Pass	217	62.54
120	Wainscott	38	6	Pass	32	72.73
121	Sagaponack	49	5	Pass	44	81.48
122	Fire Island	95	6	Pass	89	88.12
123	New Suffolk	37	1	Pass	36	94.74

Data Source: new12.com