With 1.1 million students, New York City’s public school system is the largest in the nation and, thanks to over 40 inequitable state school-aid formulas, one of the most severely under-funded.
 
The inequity has proven so dire that the New York State Supreme Court ruled that New York City students have been denied their constitutional right to a sound, basic education. The Court determined that the state’s funding formula shortchanges the city’s schools by as much as $5.6 billion annually in operating aid.
 
Yet again, the city must disproportionately make up for this shortfall, even though it lacks access to the resources to effectively do so. New York’s failure to educate and graduate its public school students has direct repercussions on the city’s and state’s ability to compete in a global economy.

Take Action

Use these talking points to tell federal officials to give NYC its fair share of education funding:

• Congress should fully fund No Child Left Behind at $30.4 billion.

Use these talking points to tell state officials to give NYC its fair share of education funding:

• The state should comply with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit’s court order by reforming the inequitable state school-aid formulas that funnel education dollars away from NYC and replacing them with a needs-based formula.