An appeals court ruled in June that the state could continue granting
less education aid for New York City kids than upstate because the
city schools meet the minimal requirement of providing an eighth to
ninth grade education and preparing pupils for low-level jobs.
The 4-1 appeals panel decision overturned last year's landmark ruling
by State Supreme Court Justice Leland DeGrasse that said Albany has
been cheating city school kids out of at least $1 billion a year.
DeGrasse found that the arcane state funding formula denied city students
the "sound basic education" required by the state constitution
and violated civil rights laws by discriminating against the city's
heavily minority student population.
The DeGrasse ruling would have forced Albany to increase education
aid to New York City, but Gov. George E. Pataki appealed the decision.
On June 25, a panel of the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court
ruled that the constitution obliged the state to provide no more than
a middle-school-level education, and to prepare students for nothing
more than jobs such as fast-food cooks and bike messengers.
"This decision sends a terrible message," said Veronica
Montgomery-Costa, president of DC 37 and Board of Education Employees
Local 372.
"At a time when education is supposed to be a top national priority,
this court is saying that a sound basic education is an eighth or
ninth grade education."
Pataki wins, kids lose
State Comptroller H. Carl McCall called the ruling, "nothing
short of outrageous." The gubernatorial candidate said Gov. Pataki
"should be ashamed of himself" for contesting the case in
court.
"Schools cannot hope to provide equal education with thousands
less per student than their suburban neighbors," said former
Chancellor Harold O. Levy.
"It's ridiculous to believe our children are only entitled to
an eighth-grade education," said the lead plaintiff in the case,
City Council member Robert Jackson.
"This is obviously a blow to all the New York City school children
who must compete in a modern day society that will require more education,
not less," said Ms. Montgomery-Costa.
DC 37 filed a "friend of the court" brief in the case, which
was initiated eight years ago by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. CFE
is appealing to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.
"This local will continue to fight on every front to gain adequate
funding for the school system in New York City," said Ms. Montgomery-Costa.