Judge again rules against Kingston in aid fight
A state Supreme Court justice has affirmed a previous ruling in favor of how New York’s state distributes aid to schools.
Justice Kimberly O’Connor’s ruling, like one she issued in 2016, rejected arguments filed by the Kingston school district and seven other small-city districts in New York.
O’Connor initially ruled in favor of the state in September 2016. But the case was returned to her by the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, which said the matter had to be reviewed on the basis of each district’s circumstances. The appellate court said such factors as “classroom supplies, textbooks, libraries and computers” had to be taken into account to determine whether “increased funding can provide inputs that yield better student performance.”
The Association of Small City School Districts said during the initial court fight that the eight plaintiff districts were shorted a combined $1.1 billion during and eight-year period beginning in 2007 because of both the state’s Gap Elimination Adjustment and a freeze in “foundation aid,” which benefits students who are poor or need English-language education.
The lawsuit, Maisto et al v. State of New York, claimed the losses in the Mid-Hudson region were $80.2 million in the Kingston school district, $79.9 million in Poughkeepsie, $238.9 million in Newburgh and $67.4 million in Port Jervis.
The other small-city school districts in the suit were Mount Vernon, Utica, Niagara Falls and Jamestown.
In standing by her initial ruling, O’Connor wrote in her new decision — a 113-page document issued Thursday — that there was a “failure of proof” showing the districts were harmed and that “aspirational” wishes could not be used to support their case.
The new decision cited the Kingston district’s work with low-income students as an example of why the state had not discriminated against small-city districts.
One of the contentions in the lawsuit was the calculation for state aid resulted in districts not being able to hire staff members with stronger qualifications. O’Connor, though, said the only category in which Kingston was below the state average for qualifications was teachers with a master’s degree plus 30 hours, or a doctorate.
“This does not demonstrate that the Kingston City School District has poor-quality teachers or that the certification and experience of its teachers are inadequate,” O’Connor wrote. “In fact, it demonstrates the opposite. The teachers in the Kingston ... are generally more qualified, or as qualified, as the teachers across the state.”
The decision says Kingston school district Superintendent Paul Padalino has had “palpable” success by instituting programs for students who are struggling academically, assisting students with problems at home, and providing opportunities for staff members to obtain professional training.
“Recent changes in the Kingston City School District are great examples of how improvements can be achieved by non-fiscal means,” O’Connor wrote. “Accordingly, the court finds that the inputs in the Kingston City School District are adequate to provide the opportunity for a sound basic education to its students, especially under the energetic and creative leadership of Dr. Padalino.”
Padalino was not avail-
able Friday for comment.
Robert Biggerstaff, the attorney who represented the school districts, said Thursday’s ruling essentially nullifies state mandates to provide a sound, basic education for students.
“The judge’s decision
evinces a radically conservative bias against public education in the poorest of communities like the eight struggling small upstate ... cities,” he said. “The trial judge cannot realistically believe this second decision will stand and so must only hope that the further delay involved in [an] appeal will somehow help the cause of destroying the constitutional protections afforded children.”