Lawsuit could end King’s power to withhold state aid increases

On Board Online • February 25, 2013

By Eric Randall

Litigation over the amount of funding that the state provides to urban schools could derail the state’s new policy of making individual districts’ state aid increases contingent on accountability compliance.

New York City attorney Michael Rebell filed a lawsuit this month on behalf of New York City parents in an effort to release $250 million for city schools. Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr. withheld that money after New York failed to submit an Annual Professional Performance Review Program to the state before a Jan. 17 approval deadline.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim the state Constitution’s guarantee that each student receive a sound, basic education trumps legislation that granted King the authority to financially penalize districts for failing to meet accountability deadlines.

“If Rebell wins, the ruling would invalidate the law and allow districts to get their lost state aid increases,” said Howard Goldsmith, an attorney with the Albany office of Harris Beach.

Rebell helped litigate the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, which resulted in a ruling by the state’s highest court that the state had chronically underfunded New York City and other urban school districts. A state plan to gradually improve funding has been shelved for four years due to poor economic conditions.

The lawsuit is also noteworthy because Rebell is a member of the governor’s education reform commission.