ALBANY – Both sides in a small cities school district lawsuit against the state over a $1.1 billion shortfall in state aid agree there was that funding deficit over the past five years.
The city school districts – Mount Vernon, Port Jervis, Newburgh,
Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Utica, Jamestown and Niagara Falls – have
been arguing in court that they should receive the money under the 2007
Foundation Aid Formula.
Attorney Gregory Little, who is representing the school districts, said that is where the problem lies, because the state disagrees.
“Their argument appears to be because there was a recession that, that made it difficult for the state to meet those financial obligations,” Little said. “Our view is that recession is not an excuse. The state has no excuse for not providing the money that these districts are entitled to, and that’s what the lawsuit is about.”
The school districts blame layoffs they imposed on the state funding shortage.
Poughkeepsie lost 130 staff members between 2009 and 2014 and says it does not have enough special education programs and academic intervention services.
Port Jervis lost more than 10 percent of its staff in one year. In 2010-11 school year, district per pupil spending for a “sound basic education” had a shortfall of 31 percent.
Kingston has 115 fewer full-time staffs than it did in 2012. In 2012-13 school year, district per pupil spending for a “sound basis education” had a shortfall of 23 percent.
Newburgh has been shortchanged $239 million by the state. The district does not have enough social workers, counselors or academic intervention teachers for its students.
Mount Vernon has not had enough teachers to address the needs of the students. The district had to cut “specials’ including library, art, music, band, orchestra, and reading teachers have been cut to a minimal level.
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