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[Phys-L] good news?



STATE COURT SAYS NY CITY SCHOOLS ARE FAILING

ALEXANDRA MARKS, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - New York State's entire
system for funding education is about to be turned upside down. And the
ripples could impact the school-reform movement across the country. In a
4-to-1 decision, New York's highest court ruled the state has a
responsibility to provide students with a "meaningful high school
education," which it said was indispensable for gainful employment and
civic engagement. That overturned an earlier appellate court ruling that
found the state was responsible only for providing students with an 8th-
or 9th-grade education. . .

Education analysts say the ruling provides a missing link in the current
school-reform movement that has required teachers and students to meet
higher and higher standards, without necessarily providing them with the
necessary funds. "It says that you can't just demand more for students
and teachers - you have to give them the wherewithal to do it," says
Jack Jennings, director of the Center on Education Policy, a nonprofit
public-school advocacy group in Washington.

In 40 states, parents and education advocates have brought cases
challenging the fairness of funding systems. The plaintiffs have been
successful in more than two-thirds of them. But with the passage of the
federal "No Child Left Behind Act," many states, particularly in rural
areas, have complained they've not been given the resources to meet the
higher standards required by the new law. "It's a victory for kids
everywhere because New York now sets a standard for the rest of the
country," says Samir Ahmed, deputy director of Campaign for Fiscal
Equity, a coalition of parents, community groups, and education
advocates that was formed to fight this battle.

In reversing the lower court opinion, the State Court of Appeals found
that "tens of thousands of students are placed in overcrowded
classrooms, taught by unqualified teachers, and provided with inadequate
facilities and equipment" and that was enough to consider there is a
"systemic failure."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0627/p12s01-usju.html