New Faces, New Education Funding Questions in New York

After being sworn in as the Governor of New York on last Monday, David Paterson went right to work on the state budget and its near $5 billion deficit. Education advocates are anxiously waiting to see how the new Governor approaches state education funding. Previous Governor Eliot Spitzer had promised to spend a lot more on education in order to comply with the ruling in a school finance lawsuit, and, equally important, to combine that spending with increased accountability for local school districts. Richard C. Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers, said that Spitzer’s resignation was “an overwhelming blow to a process that was under way with respect to equity in education.”

Will Paterson continue the commitment to education funding?

[slideshow]For this budget cycle, it looks like Paterson isn’t going to prioritize anything. He proposed a 2 percent across-the-board reduction in spending in order to slash $800 million from Spitzer’s $124 billion budget. The cuts are needed to balance the state’s budget, which has been hit hard by Wall Street’s recent woes. An across-the-board cut is politically the easiest way for Paterson to reach budget goals—and given that he has only two weeks to negotiate, probably the only way he could finish the budget on time.

The more important question is, looking forward, will Paterson continue to fight for education spending increases that are necessary to comply with court decisions in school finance lawsuits? After the Campaign for Fiscal Equity won a lawsuit against New York in 2006 that ordered the state to spend an additional $1.93 billion on New York City Schools, Spitzer pledged to bring funding levels into compliance with court rulings. Spitzer’s 2007 budget provided a $1.4 billion statewide increase in funding and planned to increase funding to $7 billion in four years. But his 2008 budget plan was not as generous, causing many education advocates to criticize him for not living up to his promise.

We can’t predict whether Paterson will respect the court decisions and continue to fight for education funding increases. As a state lawmaker representing Harlem, Paterson supported the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, and he is viewed as a “champion” for students with disabilities. In his inauguration speech, he mentioned “giv[ing] children better schools” as one of the main challenges that New York faces. He hasn’t yet decided whether to keep Manuel Rivera, Spitzer’s chief education advisor and director of his reform agenda, around.

Ed Money Watch is particularly interested in whether Paterson will continue Spitzer’s commitment to accountability. Governor Spitzer tied education funding increases to specific accountability measures—Contracts for Excellence—in high-poverty districts that receive a lot of state money. After one year of implementation, school districts are evaluating their Contracts, and it’s critical that the Governor remain an active participant and ensure that district assessments are meaningful. Spending money effectively to support student achievement is just as important as the amount of new money received. We sincerely hope that Paterson is as concerned as Spitzer about monitoring where and how state education funding is spent, and whether schools are spending it effectively.