The Adequacy Movement: Problem or Promising New Trend in Education?

It could be a new trend: Courts demanding that local and state governments spend more money on education.

In New York City, a court-appointed panel found that city schools are being short changed, and now the State Supreme Court is likely to rule that New York needs to cough up $5.6 billion more for city schoolchildren and another $9.2 billion for public school classrooms, libraries, and other facilities.

If the court mandates an increased budget for New York City schools, what will it mean for struggling school districts across the nation? Will the case encourage other courts to determine public school funding, which is a primary responsibility of state legislatures?

Starting with the basics: the case for New York City schools

In 1993, The Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), a not-for-profit corporation that is a coalition of parent organizations, community school boards, concerned citizens and advocacy groups, decided to sue New York state on the grounds that New York City students were not receiving the basic or adequate education promised to them in the State Constitution.

After weaving through the courts for years, the case ended up in the State Supreme Court, where Justice Leland DeGrasse created a panel to determine the validity of the CFE’s claim. On November 30, 2004, that panel decided that CFE was correct: city students are not receiving the quality of education that they deserve and city schools should get additional funding to reduce overcrowding and improve facilities.

The court is expected to accept these findings and order the state to comply with the $14.8 billion budget increase if no settlement is reached.

The possible settlement and the snag

CFE and state and city officials are interested in settling the case out of court; otherwise, the state is likely to appeal the court’s ruling, which would further delay a solution to the city’s education crisis.

But settlement talks have hit a major snag -- responsibility for the increased funding. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg insists that the state should provide the extra dough, since the state legislature failed to create a court-ordered plan for the city’s failing schools. New York State Governor George Pataki wants city taxpayers to cover a portion of the costs, a deal breaker for Bloomberg. The court-appointed panel agrees that the city should not pay "an arbitrary or unreasonable" share of the bill.

New York is not alone

Over a decade ago, the Kentucky Supreme Court ordered its legislature to reform their school system and provide better funding.

Due to this landmark court-ordered education overhaul, the state now spends more than twice as much per student than it did in 1990. And the extra funding has produced results - overall dropout rates have decreased and proficiency has increased. But this story does not yet have a happy ending. Kentucky schools have gone back to court to demand more funding still.

Many Kentucky school districts currently argue that the state’s funding formulas don’t keep pace with inflation and that mandatory salary increases for teachers have used up the extra funds.

The adequacy movement

Although New York and Kentucky both have schools in crisis - mainly the urban schools in NY and the rural schools in KY - the state legislators from these very different regions agree that the courts should not be telling them how much to spend on education or anything else.

Lawmakers tend to resent what is being called "the adequacy movement," or the trend in which school districts and their allies bring their complaints about inadequate funding to the courts.

The adequacy movement reveals the tension between school districts and state legislatures, who can’t seem to agree on how much funding is necessary for basic education.

But if the issue shifts to the courts, will it solve schools’ problems?

Involving the courts does not remove the legislature from the process. After a court mandates a larger budget for education, the legislature still has to implement it.

Court battles can take years, even decades to resolve. Further, the courts have considered the adequacy of education budgets, but they have not determined just what "adequate" means. An adequate education is subject to the needs of the student.

Critics of the adequacy movement argue that budget reforms are not the only solution. They say that effective education programs are necessary for adequate education as well.

But struggling school districts with overcrowded classes, outdated material, and broken equipment say “first things first." To them, adequacy means enough desks and teachers; proponents of the adequacy movement claim that the courts may be the only way to ensure that kids get the basics.

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Posted on: 12/8/2004