PATAKI WINS UGLY ON CFE

Pataki Wins Ugly on CFE

Last week's Court of Appeals ruling significantly reducing the award to city public schools in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case was the product of fortuitous timing for Governor Pataki.

The term of Judge George Bundy Smith, an appointee of former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo who was one of the court's more liberal members, ended Sept. 23. That allowed Mr. Pataki to replace him in October with Eugene F. Pigott Jr., who wrote the majority opinion reducing the award to city schools from at least $4.7 billion to a minimum of $1.9 billion in the 4-2 ruling.

Had Mr. Bundy still held that spot and voted to uphold the earlier ruling by an Appellate Division panel, the likely 3-3 deadlock would have allowed the lower-court award to stand.

Instead, aid to the city school system figures to be significantly reduced, notwithstanding Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer's campaign pledge to provide an amount close to what the Appellate Division had ordered. State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno had called for a lesser increase in aid and figures to try to hold the actual boost in city education funding close to the minimum permitted under last week's decision.

Getting much beyond that may depend on whether Mr. Spitzer can convince Mayor Bloomberg, who until now has steadfastly refused to cover part of the added costs, to increase the city's own spending on its public schools.

Judge Pigott echoed the belief enunciated by Mr. Spitzer himself - in his role as State Attorney General - on behalf of the state that the legislative and executive branches should "determine funding needs throughout the State and priorities for the allocation of the State's resources."

But the state's Chief Judge, Judith Kaye, noted in her dissenting opinion that the case was in the courts because Mr. Pataki and Mr. Bruno had been so unreasonable in budget negotiations on the matter that a settlement couldn't be reached among the affected parties.

She also questioned the validity of an outside study commissioned by the state that concluded that a $1.93-billion increase in funding for the city's schools was enough to provide a "sound, basic education." The study, Judge Kaye argued, failed to consider "the specific circumstances of New York City schools, including an especially heavy concentration of high-needs students, very low graduation rates, large classes and a disproportionate number of schools in need of improvement."

If there is good news contained within the decision, it is that, with Mr. Spitzer stepping into the Governor's Mansion, there should finally be a significant increase in funding for city public schools (he has also pledged to increase education spending for all other districts in the state) under the 2007 state budget.

Mr. Pataki seemed, in his own statement on the ruling, to take some pride in having held out until he got a court ruling more to his liking in the CFE case. It should actually be a point of shame to him - and a strong argument against any city resident giving serious consideration to his candidacy for President - that he has spent his 12 years in office dodging a responsibility to correct an injustice spurred by the state's inequitable school-funding formula.

Judge Pigott's opinion presumes that the Governor and the Legislature make budget decisions on the merits and with fair consideration for the needs of the state. If that were actually true, a settlement of the CFE case could have been easily reached six or seven years ago, when the state was enjoying financial prosperity.

Instead, the Governor chose to use a major portion of the surplus to cut taxes, with the prime beneficiaries being his wealthier supporters, while city students - particularly in its poorest districts - made do with overcrowded classrooms, outdated textbooks, and inadequate facilities.

Now, Mr. Pataki prepares to duck out of office at a time when the state is looking at significant budget deficits that will limit Mr. Spitzer's ability to go much beyond the minimum set by the court even if he were to persuade Mr. Bruno to go along, unless he raised taxes.

The cynical game Mr. Pataki played in stretching the case out long enough for a child to go from kindergartener to high school senior is a prime reason that Mr. Spitzer's campaign pledges to clean up the culture of Albany sound less like hyperbole than an articulation of a real need.