New York State Education Department Office of the Commissioner Commissioner's Files on Joint Legislative Committee to Revise…

No clear organizational scheme.

The Joint Legislative Committee to Revise and Simplify the Education Law was mandated by the New York State Legislature through a concurrent resolution on April 5, 1963. Its initial purpose was to streamline the laws and statutes governing education in New York that had accumulated unsystematically over the years. In particular, the committee was concerned with clarifying the statutory relationship between the New York State Education Department and local school districts, which many felt did not allow sufficient freedom for local decision-making and innovation. Over the succeeding years, the committee was assigned other roles by the State Legislature. In 1964, the committee was charged with reviewing the state's Master Plan for School District Reorganization. In 1967, it was given the task of studying formulas for state education aid programs, including construction aid, transportation aid, and incentive aid for school district reorganization. In 1968, the committee proposed an urban education aid program.

This series consists of materials presented at a public meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee to Revise and Simplify the Education Law on October 6, 1964 in Westhampton Beach. Included are official statements from school districts, New York State Assembly members, board of education members, and other concerned individuals. Most of these statements express opposition to centralization of school districts as proposed by the Master Plan for School District Reorganization, citing the increasing population in Suffolk County. In addition, the series contains a report presented by the Stony Brook Union Free School District, detailing studies, past reports, and petitions related to district centralization. Also included are agenda from the meeting, a map of Long Island school districts, results from a questionnaire given to Suffolk County residents regarding reorganization plans, and bulletins detailing state aid available for reorganizaton.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.