PEP, October 2006: Ruling near on school funds

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

The 13-year battle for fiscal equity between struggling inner-city school districts and their wealthier suburban counterparts is heading for a final showdown. On Oct. 10, the Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, will hear arguments in what is expected to be the final stage in the historic school-funding lawsuit led by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity with the support of DC 37.

The CFE coalition has proved in court that the state is shortchanging city public schools in distributing financial aid. Yet throughout his 12 years in office, Gov. George Pataki has repeatedly appealed every court decision in favor of more funding, holding up millions of dollars in school aid for New York City children.

“There is no issue more important to us today than our children’s education,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “Right now our education system is woefully under-funded. Our kids can’t wait.”

In 1993, the CFE filed its constitutional challenge to the state school funding system, claiming that the system underfunds city schools and denies its students their constitutional right to a sound basic education.

The CFE won major victories in 1995 when the Court of Appeals decided that the state constitution requires the state government to offer all children a “sound basic education,” and in 2003 that the Albany funding formula unconstitutionally deprived city children of that.

In his historic 2001 decision, State Supreme Court Justice Leland DeGrasse blamed the “parlous state” of the city’s schools on state funding formulas that he ruled illegal. The highly regarded jurist also decreed that the state’s deficient funding system violates the federal Civil Rights Act by causing an adverse and disparate impact on minority students. Over 70 percent of the state’s minority children live in New York City.

With 37 percent of the state’s pupils, New York City has received only 34 percent of state school funds. This lopsided formula robs the city schools of approximately $300 million annually. During the 1999-2000 school year, for instance, the city spent an average of $10,469 per student, state records show, compared with $13,760 per student in the wealthier suburbs. On top of that, New York City sends billions more in tax dollars to Albany each year than it receives in services.

“The state and the governor should honor the court’s decision and provide the funds that are urgently needed for our children to get a good sound education,” said Veronica Montgomery-Costa, president of DC 37 and Dept. of Education Employees Local 372.