All New York students have educational rights under the state constitution. A constitutional school funding formula is one that assures these rights are respected. 

Article XI, Section 1 of the New York State Constitution says: “The legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated.” The New York courts have interpreted this to mean that every student is guaranteed the right to “the opportunity for a sound basic education” that prepares them to function as productive citizens.

This right is a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) v. State of New York case, a landmark education rights lawsuit brought in 1993 against the state government on behalf of New York City public school students. The state’s highest court in the CFE case ruled that the state must “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.” 

A constitutional school funding formula guarantees that this ruling is carried out and that the state ensures every New York public school receives sufficient funding to provide a sound basic education to all its students.

In the CFE decision, the state’s highest court, held that Article XI of the New York State constitution entitles every student to the “opportunity for a sound basic education,” which it defined as “a meaningful high school education, one which prepares them to function productively as civic participants“ (emphasis added). The court emphasized the right encompassed a “high school” level education because the intermediate appeals court had held that students were constitutionally entitled only to an 8th or 9th-grade level education. 

The Court of Appeals also made clear that the opportunity for a sound basic education must include:  

• The basic skills necessary to function productively as civic participants capable of voting and serving on a jury;
• Being qualified to vote or serve as a juror “capably and knowledgeably”; and
• Preparation for competitive employment.

Funding for the public schools comes from three sources: federal, state, and local education aid. However, the New York State government is ultimately and constitutionally responsible for ensuring every school in every district has “the resources necessary for providing the opportunity for a sound basic education” for all students. State aid for schools is funded by several tax streams, primarily from the State General Fund wherein the major revenue source is state taxes (e.g., income and sales). 

State aid for education is distributed to school districts through school funding formulas that account for student need and other factors. 

The “Foundation Aid” formula was developed to comply with the court’s ruling in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case and provide constitutional funding for general education service to schools and districts in New York State. To implement the ruling, in 2007 state law reformed the method of allocating resources to school districts by consolidating some 30 aid programs into a Foundation Aid formula that distributes funds to school districts based on the cost of providing an adequate education. 

This amount reflects regional costs and concentrations of pupils who need extra time and help in each district, such as multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and students receiving free-and reduced-price lunch. Extra funding is also allocated to reflect extra costs of operating schools in sparsely populated rural areas. Typically, low-income/high-need school districts receive more state funding than lower needs/wealthier school districts in an attempt to level the playing field with equitable educational resources across school districts.

A cost analysis is a study conducted by education finance experts that predicts the cost of providing a sound basic education for every student based on their unique needs. These experts develop a cost methodology based on research that identifies the number of students in each category of specific needs and the cost of effective strategies for educating these students.

Because the state constitution requires the development of a new formula and the state has not begun to comply with this urgent mandate, the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, has engaged the American Institutes for Research (AIR), to undertake an independent study to begin the process of developing a new formula. AIR has extensive national experience in conducting cost analyses and developing adequate and equitable state aid formulas. They will conduct initial technical studies needed to gather and analyze a broad range of data and undertake a preliminary cost analysis for a new formula.

This research will constitute Phase I of our independent effort toward the development of the new formula. In Phase II, we will seek input from educators, fiscal experts, parents, students, and the interested public through public engagement meetings, panels of education professionals, and other mechanisms. We expect Phase I of the project to be completed by the end of 2024. We expect Phase II to be completed at the end of 2025.

The work we undertake with AIR in Phase I will provide data and analysis that will allow the Center for Educational Equity, in consultation with parents, students, teachers, and other education stakeholder groups, to develop positions and proposals on key issues relating to the improvements in the state aid system that the state plans to adopt next spring and put into effect for FY 2025-2026. We hope the work we undertake in Phase II to lead to the development and adoption of a constitutionally compliant new formula for FY 2026-2027.

The Center for Educational Equity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research center at Teachers College, Columbia University, that works to secure every child a meaningful educational opportunity to graduate from high school prepared for college, careers, and engaged civic participation. Founded in 2005 by Michael A. Rebell, the Center uses legal advocacy, academic research, and collective action to achieve foundational change. Learn more about the Center for Educational Equity.

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance to solve some of the most urgent challenges in the United States and around the world. Their expertise in education policy research, particularly school finance, sets the standard in the field. AIR uses the best research methods to undertake studies in school finance that shed light on how educational funding and resources can be distributed more equitably across districts/schools and used more efficiently to improve the outcomes of students. 

For nearly two decades, AIR researchers have conducted increasingly sophisticated evaluations of school funding in the state of New York; with Dr. Jesse Levin serving as deputy project director, they conducted the original New York adequacy study as part of the remedial phase of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York litigation. Levin has collaborated with colleagues within and outside of AIR to conduct over half a dozen state-level school finance studies, as well as studies of resource allocation, funding, and spending associated with major federal programs, including special education services supported by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and compensatory education supported by the Title I program. Learn more about their school finance research. 

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