The Court of Appeals will soon hear oral arguments in the landmark Campaign for School Equity case. Governor Pataki, regrettably, appealed the decision by Justice DeGrasse, which held that the State’s school funding formula was both unfair and inadequate for New York City’s students. Pataki’s appeal prevailed at the Appellate Division, but, ironically, the Governor recently changed his tune and suddenly has repudiated the idea that attaining only an 8th grade education is acceptable.

But that is the opposite of what the State has argued since the beginning of this litigation, that the “sound basic education” called for in the State Constitution should be construed in the most minimal way—the equivalent of only an 8th grade education.

Now the plaintiffs are appealing to the State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, and Pataki has refused to settle the case. Is this in the interest of our children? Of course not.

The State, the defendant in the suit, has argued that the drafters of the Education Clause of the State Constitution had in mind only the “limited purpose” of continuing in place “the existing public school system.”  The implication of this position seems to be that the State is obligated to support and maintain the public school system only at the level of educational functioning that prevailed in 1894, when this constitutional provision was adopted.

A sound basic education cannot be less than that required by the Board of Regents in the form of minimal standards for graduation from high school. In November of 1997, the Regents defined what was necessary for a sound basic education by promulgating Regents’ Learning Standards. These standards have been explicitly approved by the legislative leadership of both parties and by the Governor and stand as the official policies of the State of New York.

The Regents’ new graduation requirements, enacted together with the standards, changed the previous two-track diploma system. Now there is only a Regents’ diploma. To obtain this diploma, every student must pass Regents exams in English, math, global history, United States history and science. Failure to pass all five Regents exams will cause a student to forfeit a high school diploma.

The consequences of not receiving a high school diploma are catastrophic. Without this accreditation one is unable to matriculate in college, barred from applying for many civil service jobs, may not serve in the U.S. armed services and faces limited private sector employment opportunities. It is astonishing that anyone can contend that the “sound basic education” students in New York State are guaranteed in our State Constitution can be so inferior that students are not educated enough to meet high school graduation requirements!

The Regents’ Learning Standards do not represent an “aspirational” education, but rather the acquisition of the skills and knowledge which New York’s educational leaders and public officials believe are necessary for all high school graduates in New York State to attain.

The Court of Appeals should acknowledge that the current Regents’ Learning Standards provide a concrete expression of the type and level of skills needed for a sound basic education in the 21st century and that students therefore are entitled to the resources necessary to have a reasonable opportunity to meet these standards.

The State’s anachronistic construction of the Education Article is no less bizarre at the dawn of the 21st century than would be, for example, a contention that First Amendment protections of speech should not be held applicable to the Internet, a technology not in existence in the 18th century.

Especially in light of the Governor’s new statements repudiating the idea that an 8th grade education is acceptable, he should negotiate with the plaintiffs and settle this case. Failing that, I am optimistic that the Court of Appeals will rule in favor of educational equity for all of New York State’s children and for funding that is realistic to meet the new standards.#

Steven Sanders is chairman of the NYS Assembly Education Committee.  You can contact him at 201 East 16th Street, New York, NY 10003 (e-mail: sanders@assembly.state.ny.us; tel.: (212) 979-9696).