UFT President Randi Weingarten on CFE Decision

Nov 20, 2006 2:44 PM

“This decision has both good and bad aspects. We cannot mask our profound disappointment that the court has significantly reduced the amount from the $4 billion to $6 billion that other courts – and even Governor Pataki – felt was necessary to give New York City’s 1.1 million public school children a constitutionally required sound basic education.

“On the positive side, the court has reaffirmed that the Legislature can be ordered to appropriate funds and directed at least $1.9 billion more – adjusted upward for the cost of inflation -- to provide the education our students are owed. We believe it will take substantially more than that to provide the smaller class sizes and other resources that all prior CFE decisions have recognized as necessary for our city’s students.

“The 13-year court process has ended. Now it’s time for the Legislature and the governor to close this chapter and once and for all give all our state’s children the kind of education they richly deserve. We are confident Governor-elect Spitzer will stand by his commitment to navigate a settlement with the Legislature to provide somewhere between $4 billion and $6 billion for our students – and we expect legislative leaders to act quickly to carry this out.”

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