Winter 00/01 (v4#3)

Ghastly Graduation Rates in NYC
Will the CFE decision close the graduation gap?

Overwhelming evidence provided during the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) v. State of New York trial showed that the current funding system does not really address students’ educational needs, and is more a reflection of political deal-making.

The dismal number of New York City students graduating from high school in four years is astonishing, especially when compared with the rest of New York State. Last year, when the Regents math exam was optional, only 56 percent of NYC students that entered high school in 1996 passed the Regents math test, according to the New York Times. This school year, the exam is mandatory. The class that entered high school in 1997 must pass both the English and math Regents to receive a diploma in the spring.

CFE has argued that the state has imposed the more stringent Regents Learning Standards without providing students with the resources necessary to achieve those standards.

Academia has been analyzing New York State’s efforts to implement high performance standards, as well. The number of students scoring a 65 percent or better on the Regents exams has been decreasing as the number of students taking the exams has been increasing and "the strength of this negative relationship appears to be growing", according to a recent study by Pennsylvania State University researchers David Monk and Samid Hussain which analyzed test data from the 1991-92 to 1997-98 school years. The study also states that there are "large inequities in both participation as well as performance results for schools in the large cities of the state compared to others".

Justice Leland DeGrasse may make a determination about possible remedies in his decision in the CFE lawsuit. If CFE wins, the court would set broad guidelines for an adequate funding system. After determining the cost of providing a sound basic education to every student, the state would have to create new accountability measures to make sure that funds for education are effectively and efficiently used.

Courtroom Closing: "More Than Adequate"?
In late July, a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 300 people filled the main courtroom to full capacity to hear closing arguments at the New York State Supreme Court. Joseph Wayland, partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Michael A. Rebell, CFE’s executive director and counsel, made the closing arguments for CFE.

Wayland described in detail the "educational triage" practiced in places like Brooklyn’s community school district 13. At trial, District 13 Superintendent Dr. Lester Young detailed the brutal choices he and other district leaders often must make in deciding which students will benefit from the few resources and programs available to help them succeed.

Wayland used charts and figures to graphically illustrate a virtual "pyramid" of students–a base of thousands of ninth graders which dramatically shrinks by the year as fewer progress towards graduation.

Wayland also stressed that such problems exist systemwide, not in just a few schools or districts. In New York City, only 50 percent of students graduate high school in four years; only another 10 percent gain a diploma within seven years. The city’s schools, he said, suffer from "grossly inadequate resources and unconscionable outcomes."

Wayland also challenged the state’s position that the skills needed to pass the Regents Competency Tests–which are pegged at an eighth grade level–constitute a sound basic education. He summarized the testimony of Commissioner Richard Mills and other leading national experts that New York’s new, higher Regents Learning Standards represent "a consensus on the minimal skills our students must have." He urged the court not to adopt a lower standard for New York’s children.

Wayland also blasted the state’s education finance system as a "charade" and stressed that higher student achievement would be impossible without badly needed resources. In fact, he noted that Dr. John Murphy, a former Maryland superintendent who testified for the state, had secured significant additional resources in his districts to raise the achievement levels of disadvantaged students.

High school graduation turnaround will greatly depend on the outcome of the trial. If the lawsuit is not successful, the next Mayor will inherit a crisis–less than half of the city’s students graduating from high school.

CFE’s Remedy
In their closing arguments, for the first time, CFE proposed a formal remedy for New York State’s current school finance system. Rebell presented an outline of CFE’s remedial proposal. The proposal calls for a dramatic and sweeping overhaul of the way New York State funds its schools. He stressed the need for a systemwide emphasis on adequacy, including a clear definition of a sound basic education (SBE) and a fair assessment of the costs of providing a SBE.

Rebell noted the trend in recent state court decisions toward defining adequacy and providing guidelines for adequate funding, and he asked the court to take notice of those decisions. CFE’s proposal stresses the importance of new, effective accountability measures and the need to make sure that a diverse range of citizens from parents, students and teachers to school administrators, school board members and the general public have a voice in how funds for education are spent.

The proposal asks the court to order the New York State Legislature to significantly reform the state’s school finance system or to create an entirely new one by September 1, 2001. CFE also proposes that the state be required to file a report with the court on March 1, 2001 to describe the steps being taken toward school finance reform. While the court would set broad guidelines for an adequate funding system, the Legislature, the State Education Department and other state officials would determine the details.

The remedial proposal also closely ties the idea of a sound basic education to the Regents Learning Standards. The proposal suggests that if New York provides all students with the resources they need to have a genuine chance at meeting the Learning Standards, the state’s constitutional obligation to provide the opportunity for a SBE would be satisfied.

Proposed Findings of Fact
Along with its remedial proposal, a few days before the final arguments, CFE submitted a brief containing proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in the seven-year-old case. This 1,200-page document, compiled by a legal team of eight lawyers from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and three attorneys from CFE’s staff, details the extensive evidence presented over seven months of trial. The documents represent the most exhaustive record ever compiled on urban education reform.

The brief forms an comprehensive record of not only the most important cutting-edge research on the problems facing urban education today, but realistic solutions to those problems from experts across the nation whose work demonstrates that all children can learn at high levels if provided with the necessary resources. Beyond its significance in CFE v. State, this document will serve as a valuable resource for reformers and policy makers for years to come.

The brief also outlines a proposed constitutional standard for a sound basic education. During the trial a number of experts testified about how to effectively prepare students to be civic participants, voters and jurors, a measure of adequacy articulated by the Court of Appeals in its 1995 preliminary ruling in the case.

The court also heard extensive testimony about the importance of the Regents Learning Standards in providing students with the skills that they need to obtain a SBE and succeed in competitive employment in the 21st century. The CFE brief contains a detailed proposal for a definition of a sound basic education that is based on this evidence and also heavily influenced by the SBE definition developed through the public engagement process.

Awaiting the Decision
A decision in CFE v. State of New York is expected to be rendered this fall or early winter. If presiding Supreme Court Justice Leland DeGrasse rules in favor of CFE, the state Legislature would then be charged with creating a funding formula or system that factors in the real cost of a sound basic education.

Only 50 percent of students in New York City graduate from high school in four years, according to CFE testimony. Within the next three years, all students in the state will have to pass five Regents exams to graduate. The state has set the standards. Now, New York City waits to see if the state will provide the resources necessary for students to meet those standards.