Public Employee Press

Pataki stalls fair funding for schools

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Union and pro-education forces won another victory in the long battle to level the playing field between city and suburban public schools when Supreme Court Justice Leland DeGrasse ruled Feb. 14 that the state must boost spending for the city schools by $5.6 billion a year.

But Gov. George E. Pataki continues to be an obstacle, refusing to include any additional funding in his proposed state budget and threatening to appeal the judge’s decision.

A coalition of parents, elected officials and labor unions gathered in front of City Hall on Feb. 16 to demand that Gov. Pataki stop holding up the funds desperately needed by the city’s 1.1 million schoolchildren.

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

“The court decision is very clear that New York City should receive its fair share of school funding,” said Veronica Montgomery-Costa, president of DC 37 and of Dept. of Education Local 372. “It is unconscionable that the governor insists on dragging this matter out in the courts.”

The Campaign for Fiscal Equity coalition proved in court that the state has continued to short-change city public schools in distributing financial aid. With 37% of the state’s pupils, New York City has received only 34 percent of state school funds. This discrimination robs the city schools of about $300 million annually. On top of that, New York City ships billions more tax dollars to Albany each year in taxes than it gets back in services.

In the 1999-2000 school year, for instance, New York City spent an average of $10,469 per student, state records show, compared with the $13,760 per student spent in the wealthier suburbs. The Court of Appeals ruled in 2003 that Albany had unconstitutionally deprived city children of a sound, basic education.

“The courts have spoken,” said Michael Rebell, executive director of CFE, the group that brought the lawsuit. “The governor and the Legislature have 90 days to come up with a compliance plan. We hope all parties will negotiate a solution, but if an appeal is taken, we will fight it vigorously and ask the court to enforce the 90 day order — with heavy sanctions if necessary.”

“All four men need to get in a room and settle this case,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, referring to the mayor, and Gov. Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno, the officials who largely control the state budget.

“Our children are our future,” said Ms. Roberts. “If we don’t take care of their needs today, then what can we expect from them tomorrow?”