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JANUARY 2005

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.

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