poverty. Thus, it is “impossible for that particular aid formula to
drive a lot of additional money into New York City, so, therefore,
you have to use other parts of the formulas to do that and so far
those parts of the formulas have not been particularly wellfunded compared to the operating aid formula.”
The State did make an attempt to ensure that high-need districts
have adequate resources by adopting an Extraordinary Needs Aid
formula in 1993. About 93 percent of New York City students fall
within the ENA formula. Thus, New York City received most of the
funding allocated to ENA. Despite this, however, New York City's
total State aid allocation hardly changed after ENA was phased in,
largely because ENA only accounts for about five percent of the
total State aid. Mr. Kadamus testified that ENA fails to provide
districts with high- need students with the needed funds.[27] The
former director of the State Division of the Budget, Robert L.
King, testified that the central budget office had not determined
whether the amount allocated under ENA provided schools with
the necessary funds to educate at-risk children. In the same vein,
the Division has not sought to determine whether school districts
have sufficient resources to provide students with an adequate
education.
Year after year the formulas have consistently failed to measure
the actual costs necessary to provide New York City students with
a sound education. Rather, New York City's share of State aid has
been close to 38.86 percent regardless of the City's actual
education needs. The record supports Dr. Berne's opinion that “it
is well known that the share of New York City's increase in aid is
determined first in the legislative process and then the formulas
are actually driven backwards to get that share to come out.”[28]
The Paper Trail
The ineffectiveness of the formulas has been documented by the
Regents. While the Regents are responsible for establishing
educational policy in the State, they have no equivalent power
with respect to funding. That power is in the hands of the
Governor and the Legislature. However, the Regents, along with
the Commissioner of Education, suggest to the Legislature the
amount of spending they believe is necessary to meet the
educational goals they have established. Each year, the Regents
and the SED submit to the Governor and the Legislature an
annual report containing a great deal of information about the
state of the education system, which is designed to ensure
greater correlation between student outcomes and expenditures
(Educ. Law § 215). In addition, the Regents and the SED
regularly appoint formal committees and task forces to study
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