New
York "Commission on Education Reform" will Address CFE Remedy Issues
On September 3, 2003, New York Governor George Pataki announced his appointment
of a Commission on Education Reform to analyze a broad array of New York education
issues. The governor formed the Commission in response to the June
26 New York Court of Appeals decision in Campaign for Fiscal Equity v.
State, which declared the state education finance system unconstitutional
and ordered the state to:
| | 
Determine the cost of providing a sound, basic education | | |
Reform the state funding
system to ensure provision of these necessary resources, and | | |
Develop an accountability system to measure whether the reforms actually provide
the opportunity for a sound basic education. | To date, Governor
Pataki has appointed sixteen members of what he said could become up to a twenty-five-person
commission. While the Governor claimed the Commission provides "a tremendous
opportunity for us to take a fresh look" at New York's education system, other
government officials and education advocates criticized the Commission's lack
of representation of key stakeholders, such as school board members, legislative
leaders, representatives from the NYC
Department of Education and the State
Board of Regents, K-12 educators, and representatives from advocacy groups,
parent groups, and community organizations. Michael Rebell, executive director
of CFE, praised the Commission's
statewide focus, but expressed concern about its narrow representation and called
for an open commission process including public engagement. On a positive
note, as reported in the New
York Times, Frank Zarb, the chairman of the Commission, has announced his
willingness to review and very possibly to use the costing-out
study ("The New York Adequacy
Study") that is currently being performed by panel of experts. CFE and the
New York
School Boards Association have partnered with 32 other organizations from
across the state to conduct this cost study and solicit input through pubic engagement.
Prepared September 11, 2003 |
