Audio: CFE’s attorney and former director Michael Rebell explain the lawsuit
Frequently Asked Questions about the Campaign for Fiscal Equity Lawsuit
1) What is the Campaign for Fiscal Equity Lawsuit?
The Campaign for Fiscal Equity is the name of a group of education advocates and parents from New York City. They formed a non-profit corporation in 1993. CFE sued the state, claiming its education funding formula was unconstitutional under New York State law because NYC students were denied a "sound, basic education." One of the founders is Robert Jackson, who is now a City Councilman from Washington Heights. He was a lead plaintiff in the CFE's lawsuit.
2) What is the State's position?
The state has argued that decisions on school funding should be made by the legislature, not by the courts. Governor George Pataki has also argued that he has increased the amount of school aid to New York City during his tenure. The state has also taken the position in court that NYC does receive an adequate level of school aid, but has mismanaged the money.
3) What have the courts ruled?
The Campaign for Fiscal Equity won at the Trial level in 2001. The state then appealed and won at the Appellate Division in 2002. A controversial aspect of that ruling said that New York State's education law only guaranteed an 8th grade education. Then, in 2003, the state's highest court reversed that decision. The Court of Appeals sided with CFE and ordered the state to change its funding formula to make sure all students receive "a meaningful high school education."
The court ordered the state to figure out the cost of that ruling, and to change its education formula by July of 2004. When lawmakers disagreed over how to do that, the Court of Appeals appointed a special panel to come up with a new formula. Various studies were done by the state and by the plaintiffs. The panel looked at these studies and came up with a figure: it said the NYC schools deserve an extra $5.6 billion dollars a year. In February of 2005, judge Leland Degrasse ordered this remedy. He said the state should phase-in the extra funding over four years. This amounts to about $14 billion in extra operating aid over the course of the 4 years. The judge also ordered the state to provide an additional $9 billion in capital funds for school construction and repairs.
The state appealed this ruling. The Appellate Division is expected to decide on the matter before July of 2006.
For more information:
» Campaign for Fiscal Equity website
» Governor Pataki's proposals to address the equity issues in school funding were released in 2004.