1. When the state provides funding to school district, it provides more money to districts of lower wealth and less money to districts of higher wealth. Of the 48 school aid formulas, 90% are wealth adjusted.

Examples of school districts that are near to each other, but get different amounts of state school aid:

65% of Buffalo's public school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. In the 1993-94 school year the average expenditure per student was $7,746.

19% of Amherst's school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. But their average expenditure per student was $9,806.

51% of Rochester's public school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. In the 1993-94 school year the average expenditure per student was $10,403.

16% of Brighton's school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. But their average expenditure per student was $10,835.

59% of Syracuse's public school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. In the 1993-94 school year the average expenditure per student was $9,120.

21% of Jamesville-Dewitt's school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. But their average expenditure per student was $9,657.

37% of Yonkers' public school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. In the 1993-94 school year the average expenditure per student was $10,104.

7% of Scarsdale's school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. But their average expenditure per student was $13,301.

39% of New York City's public school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. In the 1993-94 school year the average expenditure per student was $8,205.

6% of Great Neck's school system expenditures are funded by state school aid. But their average expenditure per student was $16,926.

A good number of the formulas attempt to measure a school district's property wealth and income wealth against a state average. The wealthiest school districts get limited state funding, the poorest school districts get lots of school aid.

2. When the state provides funding to school districts, it provides more money for more-expensive-to-educate students. High school students, vocational education students, summer school students, and special education students are counted as more than one student.

1) The state provides, on average, about a third of what it takes to run most school districts. So wealthy communities can spend $12,000 per pupil while poor communities can only spend $6,000 per pupil -- and state aid does not make up the difference. The wealthy district may only be getting $1,200 per student in state school aid, but it has the local resources to fund the remaining $10,800. The poorer district may get $4,200 per student from the state, but it has difficulty raising the additional $2,800 locally.

2) The state legislature has a tradition of assuring school districts that they will never get less state school aid than they did the year before. What this means is that all the complicated formulas for measuring students and district wealth become irrelevant over time. School districts with far fewer students and at higher levels of wealth are getting more money in state school aid than districts with more students and at lower wealth.

3) The governors and legislative leaders have a tradition of placing caps on any increases in state school aid -- so districts with increases in student enrollment or drops in wealth do not get the funds they are entitled to under the formulas.

4) The New York State formulas do not measure the differences among regions in average wages, cost of living, construction, and cost of land. Cities are particularly hurt by this lack of regional cost adjustment.

5) Even though different weights are created for students, and funding programs have been created to help certain groups of at-risk students, the formulas do not fully reflect student needs for services. The Big Five cities have the highest proportion of students in the state who have to learn English along with their regular academic program (190,000). Student poverty also means that our large cities have higher than average student absenteeism -- which reduces state school aid, which is based on attendance. The State Education Department has made progress in the area by creating Extraordinary Needs Aid index, but the funding provided does not adequately cover the extra services needed by a high-poverty student body.

6) The state school aid formulas, while they measure school district wealth, do not measure the extent of city government responsibilities, what is often called "municipal overburden." In other words, when it comes to cities, the state school aid formulas do not recognize the funding that is needed for a larger police force, a fire department that is not run by volunteers, city buses and subway systems, public health, social services, and public housing.

7) The last explanation of why the formulas do not work deserves special attention -- because our challenge is to develop a system that avoids this last problem.

School formulas, however imperfect they are, are not allowed to run neutrally. Every year the formulas are changed because the actual amount of new funding for public schools is determined by legislative negotiations between the Governor, the Assembly Speaker, and the Senate Leader for each region of the state. The formulas are then backed into the dollar amounts. So every year there are changes in how district wealth is measured, how pupils are counted, and what categorical programs are created, refunded, and eliminated.

New York City is slightly poorer than the average for school districts around the state, our region’s costs are higher, and our student needs are greater. A child's access to a computer, a student's ability to do well on state tests, and children's success in getting into the college of their choice should not depend on the school district where they reside. Let's make sure there is educational opportunity in our state for all public school students. Any new funding system would have to: