State settles equitable education suit
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Gov. Kathy Hochul committed to paying out the state’s obligation to the Foundation Aid formula on Thursday.
AP file photo by Kathy Willens
By Jacob Kaye
New York State will pour $4 billion over the next three years into funding for school districts across the state after Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state had settled in a lawsuit brought by education advocates nearly a decade ago.
Hochul announced Thursday that the state had settled in New Yorkers for Students' Educational Rights v. New York State and has committed to fully funding the Foundation Aid formula, which aims to create an equitable distribution of state funds to school districts throughout New York, by 2024.
"Every single New Yorker deserves a quality education to succeed in our state, and public schools are a vital component of that opportunity for our children's upward mobility," Hochul said in a statement. "This settlement closes a long chapter of inequity, and demonstrates my administration's commitment to wiping the slate clean and fully funding public education using a responsive model that takes districts' unique needs into account.”
While the funding is expected to impact school districts throughout New York, it’s expected to have a large impact on funding in New York City, where need is high, according to Michael Rebell, the co-counsel for New Yorkers for Students' Educational Rights.
“It depends on all these factors that go into it, but New York City comes out well under the Foundation Aid formula,” Rebell said. “As they've paid it out over the years, it's been a big benefit to the city.”
The governor's commitment to the three-year payout follows a budgetary commitment made by the State Legislature. The lawmakers carved out the funds in the state budget passed earlier this year.
Queens State Sen. John Liu, who chairs the Senate Committee on New York City Education, noted that the settlement builds on the work done by him and his colleagues, but celebrated Hochul’s announcement nonetheless.
“It seems humorous if not awkward to say that a new settlement requires the very same full funding that had already been enshrined into law back in April, but it’s good that the new governor appreciates that schools must get this funding,” Liu said in a statement to the Eagle.
Hochul’s attitude toward the Foundation Aid formula greatly varies from her predecessor’s opinions of the funds. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo had long resisted paying out the cash, which prompted the lawsuit, according to Rebell.
However, the fight for equitable funding in New York State school began long before Cuomo took office. In the late ‘90s, Rebell, representing the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, led a legal team that sued the state, alleging that each child had a right to a “sound basic education” under the state’s Constitution. In 2003, then-Chief Judge Judith Kaye ruled in CFE’s favor and ordered the state to create an equitable funding system.
Soon after, the Foundation Aid formula was created, but it took a hit during the 2008 recession and the funding slowed to a halt.
“By 2012, or ‘13, we were worse off than when we had started,” Rebell said. “But we had this constitutional right.”
After being elected, Cuomo appointed Rebell to a commission aimed at studying education issues in the state. The attorney told the governor that if the Foundation Aid funding was not resolved by the commission, they would sue, according to Rebell.
“So, we sued them,” Rebell said.
Now that the case is settled, Rebell said he feels a sense of relief.
“I was looking forward to this huge trial coming up next year, so it's a personal relief from that point of view,” he said. “But there's always more to do.”
While the plaintiffs are taking Hochul at her word and are confident the funds will be paid out by 2024, as she promised, there’s no commitment to fund the formula in the years that follow.
Additionally, a lot has changed since the formula was first conceived – recent Census data shows the city underwent demographic changes in the past decade and there have been changes to education policy and services. The next fight might be altering the formula, Rebell said.
“We need a system that is going to be constantly updating the analysis of what the relative needs are, and guaranteeing that the state will be paying out what's needed to meet the constitutional requirement on an ongoing basis without our having to go back to court and without all of this hoopla and confrontation,” he said.
The settlement announced this week includes a provision to bring the lawsuit back online if the state doesn’t meet its commitment in the next few years.
“I'm more optimistic now, since the governor made that statement that we will not need to go back to court,” the attorney said. “But we have the stipulation and if the problem arises, we will go back.”
