The Schools for New York's Future Act
What
was it?
In 2004 CFE,
along with a coalition of statewide organizations, developed statewide
legislation intended to ensure school funding reform. The bill was officially
released in spring 2005 as The Schools for New York's Future Act (SFNYF
Act). It was endorsed by organizations across the state, including the
New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the Alliance for Quality Education
(AQE), the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy (SCAA), and the Rochester
Board of Education.
In June 2005, the bill was introduced into the assembly as A-100 by the education chair, Steven Sanders, with 60 statewide sponsors. In the 2006 legislative session, a budget amendment based on the SFNYF Act was introduced into the senate by Senator Suzi Oppenheimer and was supported by most members of the Senate Minority.
What
would the bill have done?
CFE's
bill was a visionary school-funding plan that would have increased statewide
education funding by $8.6 billion over four years and established a transparent,
simplified funding system. Every district in the state would have benefitted
from the bill's foundation formula. It would have provided districts with
predictability as to the way their schools are funded and hundreds of
districts would have seen substantial increases in state aid. No district
would have suffered any reduction in future state aid allocations.
How
was it developed?
In November
2004, a panel of judges appointed by the State Supreme Court concluded
that New York City schools needed an additional $5.6 billion each year
for operating aid and $9.2 billion for facilities. In March 2005, Justice
DeGrasse of the State Supreme Court adopted the panel's recommendations
and transformed them into an order of the court.
Long-committed
to statewide reform, CFE and a coalition of organizations formed a task
force and drafted a bill that transformed the court's New York City-focused
order into statewide legislation. The methodolgy used in the bill was
based on the same rigorous analyses that were under the measured consideration
of the courts in the CFE case.
Key Documents (PDF)
Full
bill
Summary
Summary,
major provisions
District- by-district
runs