Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York, No. 136 (N.Y. Nov. 20, 2006)

The New York Court of Appeals, that state’s highest court, has affirmed an appellate court’s decision upholding the constitutionality of the state’s funding scheme for New York City’s public schools, with two modifications. First, the high court "declare[d] that the constitutionally required funding for the New York City School District includes, as demonstrated by this record, additional operating funds in the amount of $1.93 billion, adjusted with reference to the latest version of the [Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI)] and inflation since 2004." The GCEI is provided by the U.S. National Center on Education Statistics and was developed by Jay Chambers, one of the principal authors of The New York Adequacy Study, a cost analysis project cosponsored by the plaintiff Campaign for Fiscal Equity in 2003-2004. Second, the high court "vacate[d] the requirement that the Governor and the Legislature implement a capital improvement plan that either expends $9.179 billion over the following five years ‘or otherwise satisfies the City schools' constitutionally recognized capital needs.’" The court found that the governor’s proposed reformed funding scheme was not unreasonable, concluding that cost studies and analysis relied on by the governor were "rationally defensible." While the state’s approach to financial analysis might be subject to debate, the court could not say it was irrational and, therefore, the state’s approach was entitled to judicial deference.

The court of appeals vacated the part of the appellate division’s ruling that required the state to provide a capital improvement plan because the state legislature "set forth a capital construction program totaling $2.6 billion that includes $1.8 billion for the New York City school district." Lastly it signaled its agreement with the appellate division’s decision to vacate the trial court’s order calling for state costing-out studies every four years and its requirement that the New York City Department of Education prepare a comprehensive "sound basic education" plan to ensure accountability. The high court said it agreed with the City of New York, an amicus in this case, that "a new and costly layer of City bureaucracy is not constitutionally required, noting, "It is undisputed that there are minimally adequate accountability mechanisms now in place for the evaluation of New York schools (including the Schools Under Registration Review process and the state standards required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)."

[Editor’s Note: The appellate division’s opinion is summarized below. For reactions, see the New York Times article.]
[NSBA School Law pages on Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York]