New York’s School-Funding Disparities Worst in Nation

November 23, 2009

In light of The News’ editorial cartoon of Oct. 23 attacking educational funding growth for all school districts in New York State, we suggest some homework: Based upon the most recent study by the nationally recognized Educational Trust, while education funding in New York is high, the funding gap between wealthy and poor school districts here is the worst in the United States.

In addition, the funding gap between high minority and low minority New York districts is also the worst in the United States. Yes, the worst in the United States!

As a result of New York State being found guilty of violating its constitutional mandate to provide all students with a sound basic education, some (not a lot of) additional funding was allocated to address the serious under-funding of poor school districts. In Buffalo, the additional funds were used mostly to reduce class sizes in our neediest schools. As a result, 10 of our neediest schools were removed from the state’s underperforming schools list. This year the funding was cut.

As a result of Buffalo being one of the poorest cities in the country and also having neighborhoods where drugs and violence are prevalent, many of our students come to school with problems few can imagine. Yet our class sizes are the highest and our school counselors, social workers and psychologists have caseloads of more than 1,500 to 1 instead of the state’s recommended 250 to

1. We also have no attendance teachers to work on attendance problems.

Fully 16 percent of the Buffalo school budget, more than $124 million, is for special needs/handicapped students.

The more than $70 million sent to charter schools is $35 million more than it would cost if the charter school students returned to the Buffalo Public Schools. The answer to this problem, advocated for years by the Buffalo Teachers Federation, is a separate source of state funding for charter schools so we can end the funding battle between our schools and charters.

This cartoon is one piece of homework where it would have been better had the dog chewed it up. While it may be fashionable to attack education funding for all districts, I would hope that citizens would remember that the disparity in New York’s funding between affluent and poor school districts and mostly minority and majority districts is the worst in the United States. Compounding that immoral disparity is our highest court’s ruling that New York State had violated its constitution by underfunding poor school districts. Importantly, when we finally did receive some additional funding (that was lost this year) to address decades of underfunding of poor school districts, our students made remarkable progress.

Being born in a poor city or community like Buffalo shouldn’t mean that a child should be denied the funding and programs he/she needs. To do so ensures that the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. That’s wrong.