CFE Criticizes State for Stalling Appeal

On March 19, CFE filed its reply papers in the New York State Supreme Court criticizing the State for unnecessarily delaying its appeal in CFE v. State. CFE has asked the Court to lift the stay and compel the State to move forward in remedying New York's constitutionally flawed education finance system.

CFE's latest filing is in response to the State's publicly stated intention to use a full nine months to file its appeal, contradicting earlier statements by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that the State was committed to moving this process along as quickly as possible.

The State has already given ample evidence that it has determined what it claims to be the flaws in the trial court's opinion and the basis for its appeal. In asking the Court to lift the stay, CFE stated, "Allowing the stay to remain in place is entirely inappropriate since it only serves to allow the State to delay the ultimate resolution of the case."

Rather than shirking its Court mandate to reform what even Governor Pataki has called a "fundamentally flawed" school finance system, CFE calls on the State to take this time to undertake the preliminary steps toward a sound remedy.

Every day that this appeal is put on hold, CFE argued, denies New York public school students their constitutionally protected opportunity of a sound basic education. According to the motion, "The cumulative nature of education means that each day of delay-never mind each year-results in further harm to more than one million children who still continue to receive a constitutionally deficient education."