Ruling for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v State of New York or is the Jury Still Out?

After more than seven years, in June 2003, the New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, ruled that the state’s system of funding public education fails to provide New York City public school students with an opportunity for a meaningful high school education as mandated by the state constitution. According to the National School Board Association, this is a victory for the children of New York because the state must implement reforms “implement reforms that ensure stable funding for these costs in each district.”

Somewhere along the lines of the twenty-one page opinion, equality of funding seems to become the solution to inadequate performance by students. Despite all of the other reasons identified such as language barriers and dysfunction homes, equal funding will probably not be the solution.

I am of the opinion that the issue is adequacy which means that some schools may need more funding then other. Therefore, when the basic guidelines were defined, the cost of implementation would have to vary… which would be contrary to the ruling. Although Judge DeGrasse outlined seven areas of resources that must be provided in order for districts to ensure a sound basic education (see CFEquity.org) it appears the jury is still out. It’s been almost 2 years but it doesn’t appear that any progress is being made. In his state-of-the-state address on January 5, 2005, Gov Pataki repeated his call for a new school aid formula for "fair funding and real reform" (See article by NewYork State United Teachers). What happened to the accountability and shouldn’t there have been a time frame put in place?


I believe that a Democracy should provide the skills and education that will enable students to become productive citizens capable of supporting themselves. The requirements of this education must then be based upon the job market and cost of living factors. That means the educational requirements would be required to change as the economic environment changes. Employability will be the true test and that too is multiple choice.