Guest Editorial
The Time is Here for True Fiscal Equity
By Regina M. Eaton
Governor George Pataki’s 2005 State of the State Address
made it clear us that he does not intend to cede school funding
reform to the courts. But the courts have spoken. Now it’s
time to act. In the coming weeks, Judge DeGrasse, the trial
judge that heard the Campaign for Fiscal Equity vs. New
York State (CFE) case, is expected to hand down a final
court order to resolve the lawsuit. We need to hold the Governor
and our Legislators accountable for enacting legislation that
complies with this court order. We do not need to stall and
delay children’s constitutional right to sound basic
education any longer.
To make our children’s
right a reality, the Alliance for Quality Education, a statewide
coalition of 230 organizations dedicated to ensuring every
child’s right to a quality
education, is launching a bill that will establish a statewide
school funding system that distributes aid to school districts
based on need and complies with the court order.
To date, the plan the Governor
has proposed has been insufficient. Special Masters appointed
by Judge DeGrasse have recommended that the state provide $5.6
billion to New York City schools, an amount of money also supported
by the New York State Regents. To satisfy the court, the state
will have to come up with the money for New York City and other
high-need districts.
The Alliance for Quality
Education released its State of
the Schools Report III: No Funding No Fairness report last
fall that analyzes how the state distributed operating school
aid in the 2004-05 budget. The report revealed—not surprisingly—the
state school budget creates a funding gap that shortchanges
the neediest schools of nearly $1.7 billion. We call this gap
a “constitutional funding gap.” It is the percentage
difference between what a school district received from the
state 2004-05 and what they would have received—as their
constitutional right—under the Campaign for Fiscal Equity
(CFE) plan.
The Governor may have been
applauded for his upbeat message but it was disheartening that
he gave such short shrift to the challenges of education. Especially
since education is critical to increasing jobs and economic
development that he touted in his speech. The Governor spoke
about crime reduction, yet everyone knows that providing quality
public education is the first step in crime prevention.
If this is the year to complete “unfinished
business,” as
the Governor stated, then show us that Albany can work to fix
a broken school funding system.#
Regina M. Eaton is Executive Director of Alliance for Quality
Education.
