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....July 22, 12:55 PM |
| In Budget Crisis,ALBANY STUMBLES ON SCHOOL FUNDING
By Aaron Rutkoff Albany is in severe disarray—more so, even, than the condition of futility and gridlock that passes for normal in the state capitol on the best of weeks.
With just over a week remaining until the court-ordered deadline for the complete reform of the way the state distributes money for education, Governor George Pataki invoked a little-used constitutional power to convene an “extraordinary session” on July 22—at high noon, no less—for all state lawmakers. While flexing gubernatorial muscle adds drama to an already tense week in the capitol, legislators were literally unmoved by Pataki’s order: members of both the Senate and Assembly were already in Albany for special summer sessions of their own. As lawmakers continued to go through the motions this week in deliberations that few believed would produce a viable compromise before the deadline, one significant change became clear. The term “farce,” which had previously been the domain of finger-waging pundits and editorial writers commenting on the proceedings in Albany, became something of a commonplace among the frustrated lawmakers themselves. “That is an excellent word,” said Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik as he shuttled back and forth between legislative sessions. “This is essentially a farce.” The state budget, now nearly three months overdue, hangs on the outcome of a battle over revised funding for education, with billions of dollars still separating different drafts of the pivotal legislation. Lurking behind the budget, in turn, are an array of incomplete legislative initiatives concerning everything from raising the minimum wage to authorizing the MTA’s takeover of New York City’s private bus lines. Legal Battles The dispute over state funding for education that reached its climax this week has been brewing for over a decade, ever since a non-profit advocacy group, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), filed a class action lawsuit against the state. The suit charged that funding formulas used by Albany lawmakers to distribute money to school districts statewide failed to ensure that New York City children has access to sound, basic education. In the long legal battle that followed, a series of judges agreed with the CFE’s basic contention that the process used to apportion school funds effectively shortchanged city students relative to their peers in other parts of the state, particularly those in wealthy suburban districts. Pataki opposed the suit with a $12 million legal campaign, famously arguing at one point that eighth-grade schooling was enough to fulfill the educational mandate in the state constitution. Last year, a judge from the New York’s highest court disagreed, finding that students statewide are entitled to a meaningful high school education. The ruling invalidated existing school funding formulas and set a 13-month period for legislative reform. This period ends July 30, at which point the court will appoint “special masters” to deal with the funding issue, removing the problem from the hands of elected representatives once and for all. |
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