POLICY
By SUSAN ARBETTER
W
hether they know it or not, New Yorkers are currently embroiled in education battles on multiple fronts. The rollout of the Common Core and the growing reliance on testing has parents, students and educators butting heads with the New York State Department of Education in the court of public opinion. Simultaneously, the New York State Association of Small City School Districts, New York State United Teachers and several school superintendents are readying themselves for three legal battles, any one of which could have serious consequences for New York students and taxpayers. According to Dr. Rick Timbs, executive director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, the fights are linked. “State government wants more from schools while simultaneously denying funds,” says Timbs. The following is a look at the three legal showdowns in order of when they will arise:
MAISTO, ET AL. V. STATE OF NEW YORK
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n the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, the Court of Appeals wrote that all children can learn, but at-risk children need “an expanded platform of services.” The Maisto case attempts to address those at-risk students. The complaint argues that students with disabilities, English language learners and students who are economically disadvantaged have been denied the expanded
26 NOVEMBER 4, 2013 | cityandstateny.com
A Dangerous Intersection:
THE CORNER OF LAW AND EDUCATION platform promised by CFE. In practical terms, it means these kids aren’t receiving early intervention services or the help of reading specialists. “It’s a travesty,” says Terry Devine, of the Albany law firm of Devine, Markovits and Snyder, which argued the case on behalf of the New York State Association of Small City Schools until recently. “Quite frankly, these kids are written off. If you have the misfortune of being born in one of these areas to poor parents, you’re out of luck.” Maisto is informally known as the small city schools version of CFE, which focused on New York City schools. Under New York law, small city schools districts are defined as the districts of each city that according to the latest federal census have fewer than 125,000 inhabitants. There are currently 57 small city school districts throughout New York State, but because of the expense involved in suing the state, only eight cities are plaintiffs under Maisto. One of the eight is Utica. Over the past two years the school district has laid off 143 teachers. This year another 50 teachers could get pink slips. Fifteen percent of the students in the Utica City Schools are English-language learners, possibly because the city is home to one of the largest refugee centers in the U.S.
Additionally, 16 percent of students in the Utica City Schools have learning disabilities. Yet Utica has had to cut services and increase class sizes. “When you talk about Common Core, these kids are light years behind already. There’s no way to get these kids caught up,” says Devine. “This is a heartbreaking case. It really is.”
CFE HISTORY
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n the CFE case, the Court of Appeals defined a sound basic education as a high school education that prepares a student to function as a civic participant— which in turn requires reasonable class sizes, qualified and competent teachers, enough light, heat, space and air, and the appropriate instrumentalities of learning. Michael Rebell, the executive director of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, was co-counsel for the plaintiffs in CFE. “The small cities case [Maisto] is going to present graphic illustrations about kids being hurt,” says Rebell. “If that is complemented by a statewide case that can be litigated quickly, that would make for a powerful argument before the State Court of Appeals.” As of now, there is no statewide case.
Perhaps Rebell, who also serves on the governor’s New NY Education Reform Commission, sees Maisto as a way to keep the issue alive in the public’s mind until he’s ready to file a broader suit. “As far as I’m concerned, if we don’t get a serious recommendation in the [New NY Education Reform] Commission report, and the governor’s Executive Budget proposal does not really put us back on track to obtaining adequate funding for public schools, I think serious consideration would have to be given to filing a statewide CFE type suit in January.” But Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, doesn’t see any reason to delay. “During Gov. Cuomo’s term, our schools have made classroom cuts every year,” says Easton. “Every year we can expect more cuts to art, music, academic courses, tutoring, guidance counselors, libraries and more. Something has to change.” Stakeholders on all sides of the education debate agree the state’s school funding formula is inadequate and should be reformed. “The Utica case highlights the complexity of our current school funding formula, which results in huge variations in spending per pupil across the state,” says Heather Briccetti, the president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State. However, there is no agreement among stakeholders on how to fix the problem. “When you look at New York broadly against the rest of the country, we spend 67 percent more than the national average, and yet we are not the top performing state