Mayor de Blasio Takes Important Step Toward Educational Equity, Even as Cuomo Continues to Blockade

NEW YORK, NY (April 25, 2018) — Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that New York City will ensure that no school receives less than 90 percent of their Fair Student Funding (FSF), which prioritizes the funding of high-need schools in the city. In response, the Alliance for Quality Education and New York City Coalition for Education Justice released the following statement:

“Mayor de Blasio’s announcement today shows his commitment to achieving educational equity goes beyond rhetoric, as he takes bold action by funding the city’s Fair Student Funding formula,” said Zakiyah Ansari, advocacy director, Alliance for Quality Education. “Unlike Governor Cuomo who has consistently blocked Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) funding, the mayor understands that money matters when it comes to addressing inequity in schools. Mayor de Blasio’s budget will allow schools to hire more teachers and support staff, and implement programs to help even more students to graduate and maintain the city’s upward trend in achievement.

“New York State has a similar formula, known as Foundation Aid, which was created to resolve the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit and would address equity for all schools, but Governor Cuomo has consistently refused to fully fund it. The Governor’s failure to address educational equity in New York State by refusing to fund the Foundation Aid formula limits the progress of New York City and districts across the state.”

Parents from the NYC Coalition for educational Justice appreciates Mayor de Blasio for once again showing his commitment to equity through increased funding. “This is one of many steps that must be taken to ensure that every student in New York City has a high-quality education. Mayor de Blasio must also commit to ending the institutional racism that exists in our public schools by ensuring teachers, administrators and school staff have on-going deep anti-bias trainings, funding and staffing an Office of Culturally Responsive Education in the Department of Education and make shifts to curriculum to make it inclusive and intersectional. The commitment to equity cannot and does not end with funding, although it is a major piece of the puzzle,” said Natasha Capers, parent coordination, Coalition for Educational Justice.