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Changing Historical Funding Scheme

By 3L at Seton Hall University School of Law and Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.

After taking on chronic problems (though beneficial to some vested interests) in the NY health care system, Gov. Spitzer is now wrangling with the state legislature over the allocation of state dollars for education. Traditionally, New York City has received about 39% of new spending; in this year's proposed budget, it is slated to receive about 46%. In allocating more of the "pie" to the Big Apple, other -- read suburban -- districts will get a smaller proportion of the new spending. (Important to note that we are dealing with a shift in proportion of new spending, not the total amount spent . . . indeed, the absolute dollars sent to all districts is not set to decline.) While the legislators from suburbia wield significant clout in state politics, the Governor has a strong trump card that can be offered in response to any dogged recalcitrance -- namely, the recent N.Y. Court of Appeals' decision mandating a larger portion of spending to be allocated to the City. Specific proportions were not laid out in the decision, thus, while the amount for the City certainly increase, it is impossible to know what level it will rise to, and how long increase will be sustained.

Full post as published by Urban Law Journal on March 18, 2007 (boomark / email).