Litigation into Law and Public Engagement into
Policy: CFE Money Flowing to New York Districts
This Year
The New York Legislature passed a budget on April 1,
2007 containing a $1.76 billion increase in state education
funds for the coming year and unprecedented education
reforms that, together, make enormous strides to remedy
the constitutional violations identified by the state
courts in Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State,
filed by CFE almost 14 years ago. The $1.76 billion
is the first of four annual statewide increases that
will reach $7 billion annually by 2010.
“The significant funding and important accountability
reforms enacted by the Governor and the Legislature
respond directly to the court’s orders and fairly
culminate years of litigation to achieve equity and
adequacy for New York’s school children,”
said Michael A. Rebell, Executive Director of the Campaign
for Educational Equity at Teachers’ College, Columbia
University and counsel for the CFE plaintiffs
throughout the lengthy litigation. CFE and advocates
across the state have succeeded in turning litigation
into law and public engagement into policy.
Public Engagement
The budget bill retains most of the key elements proposed
by Governor Spitzer in January, including the creation
of a simplified state aid formula and new requirements
for districts to plan and implement effective educational
strategies. These reforms follow the policy recommendations
that emerged from CFE’s multi-year, statewide
public engagement process that gathered input and expertise
from concerned New Yorkers – parents, educators,
school board members, and leaders from business and
community-based organizations.
As reported in the Albany Times-Union, the
new formula replaces dozens of long-standing and convoluted
categorical funding calculations with one basic foundation
aid grant. The new funding system will be more transparent
and predictable, and the other reforms will help ensure
that new funding is spent in ways that “make the
money matter,” giving kids better opportunities
and improving achievement.
Cost-based Funding Targets Neediest Districts
Over $715 million of next year’s increase is
directed to the high-needs students of New York City,
a figure that will rise to $3.3 billion over the next
four years. Combined with $2.2 billion in City funds,
additional funding for New York City’s public
schools will far exceed the $2 billion constitutional
“floor” ordered by the New York Court of
Appeals in November 2006 and will be very close to the
$5.6 billion increase that the CFE trial court
ordered based on extensive costing-out analyses.
The boost for New York City schools results from changes
in the funding system intended to distribute state education
aid to school districts based more on need and less
on political power brokering in the state capital. The
City’s schools educate 1.1 million kids, or 38
percent of the New York State’s schoolchildren,
including most of the state’s low-income, immigrant,
and English learner students.
The new funding system also provides significant increases
that benefit all of New York’s large city school
districts, including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and
Yonkers.
According to the Alliance
for Quality Education (AQE), a New York advocacy
organization that has been an integral part of the push
to reform school funding, the budget “represents
a substantial breakthrough in a 14-year struggle to
deliver a quality education to every child.”
“Contracts for Excellence”
Among the key elements of the governor’s original
budget proposal that were kept intact in the final bill
were “Contracts for Excellence,” in which
districts that receive increases of 10 percent or $15
million in state aid must develop a comprehensive plan
for how they will direct their funding and implement
their educational programs. These accountability measures
are a critical part of ensuring that the new money is
spent effectively. In addition, the bill requires New
York City to develop a plan for reducing class sizes
over five years.
Compromise
To get the reforms passed in the face of pressure from
State Senators representing Long Island’s wealthy
suburban school districts, the governor had to agree
to an extra $400 million – outside the regular
formula – directed to Long Island and other districts
that received minimal increases under the need-based
formula. Billy Easton, executive director of AQE, celebrated
the new funding formula as being “the central
tool we need to divide school aid fairly,” but
noted the importance of funding schools based on need
and not on political power. “This year, we’re
using [the formula] partially. Next year, we need to
use it fully.”
Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE)
Founded in 1993 by Robert Jackson, president of Community
School Board 6 in northern Manhattan, and by Michael
A. Rebell, the Campaign
for Fiscal Equity, Inc. is a not-for-profit coalition
of parent organizations, community school boards, concerned
citizens and advocacy groups. CFE was established to
seek reform of the state’s school finance system
in order to ensure adequate resources and the opportunity
for a sound basic education for all students. Towards
that end, CFE filed its lawsuit against the state in
May of 1993, alleging the funding system violated the
state constitution.
Since then, in conjunction with the litigation CFE
has been working to promote public dialogue on education
and school funding reform and conduct research on effective
remedies. The public engagement process led to formulation
of the “Blueprint for Better Schools” in
1999, a civics curriculum for high school students that
included observing the CFE v. State trial,
and plaintiffs’ proposed definition of a sound
basic education, submitted to the trial court as a critical
aspect of the case. The New York courts essentially
adopted the definition developed by the many public
engagement participants across the state. CFE also formed
statewide task forces that developed specific recommendations
for operating funding, capital construction funding,
and capacity-building accountability measures –
all of which have now informed the remedial legislation
enacted last year and on April 1, 2007.
Prepared by Molly A. Hunter April 10, 2007
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