Blog

I had the opportunity to attend the first Rockefeller Institute hearing on the Foundation Aid study held in Manhattan. Entering the high school auditorium where the hearing was taking place, I was surprised by the small audience composed only of expert speakers. The wide range of experts included school and district administrators, elected officials, education policy academics, educational equity non-profit directors, and others. However, students and parents were notably absent, missing the opportunity to engage in conversation with experts and learn about the Foundation Aid Formula.

We sat down with Satoshi Takahashi to learn more about his research as a visiting scholar here at the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Study planned by Governor Hochul and the Rockefeller Institute violates the state constitution. American Institutes for Research will be retained to undertake independent technical analyses for a more extensive effort to determine current student needs and educational costs.

As the school year comes to a close, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support of the Center. With your help, we have made significant strides in securing every student's right to a meaningful education through legal strategies, collective advocacy, research, and policy analysis. Here's a round-up of the impact of your contributions:

Last week, the Appellate Division, First Department, issued a striking school desegregation decision. The Appellate Division unanimously reversed the lower court's dismissal of the case IntegrateNYC v. State of New York , ruling that plaintiffs could proceed to trial to prove their claim. The plaintiffs allege that New York City's examination system for selecting students for its elite high schools and its systems for choosing students for gifted and talented programs (beginning as early as age four), deny Black and Latinx students their right to the opportunity for a sound basic education.

This disingenuous proposal does no more than delegate the Rockefeller Institute to prepare the governor’s education budget proposal for 2025-2026. The effort may tweak the current formula to meet the governor’s budget goals, but it will certainly not be an objective attempt to “ascertain the actual cost of providing a sound basic education” and ensure that “every school [will] have the resources necessary for providing the opportunity for a sound basic education,” as is required by the state constitution and the Court of Appeals’ ruling in CFE v. State of New York.

Michael A. Rebell, the executive director of the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, who was co-counsel for plaintiffs in the CFE litigation, announced that, if the governor does not approve this critical appropriation for SED, he will work with other attorneys and advocates to file a new lawsuit to compel the state to develop a new foundation aid formula immediately.