At the end of last month, the Court of Appeals addressed once again the issue of adequate state funding for public education. In the companion cases of Aristy-Farer v. State of New York and New Yorkers for Students' Educational Rights v. State of New York, the Court of Appeals dismissed plaintiffs' statewide challenges to the system by which public education is funded in New York, but permitted certain claims to proceed solely to the extent that they relate to circumstances in Syracuse and New York City. This represents the latest round in a series of efforts dating at least as far back as the 1980s by education advocates seeking increased funding for public education in New York.

The New Yorkers for Students' Educational Rights (NYSER) action was brought by individual parents in a number of school districts and was led by the educational advocacy group NYSER. The Aristy-Farer action was brought by parents of New York City schoolchildren. Both actions were brought against the state of New York, the governor, the Board of Regents and others, and alleged that the state had failed to provide students with a sound basic education as required by the state Constitution's Education Article.

The NYSER complaint asserted four causes of action: (1) defendants failed to comply with the Court of Appeals' prior decisions in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) case¹ by depriving New York City students of the minimum constitutional level of funding; (2) students statewide are being deprived of a sound basic education as a result of defendants' various educational budget-cutting measures; (3) defendants violated the Education Article by, inter alia, failing to undertake studies to determine the cost of a sound basic education and failing to ensure an accountability system for measuring academic performance; and (4) defendants failed to provide students statewide with a sound basic education in violation of the Education Article. The Aristy-Farer plaintiffs alleged three claims arising from the state's withholding of approximately $290 million from the New York City school district as a result of the school district's failure to implement certain teacher and administrator performance assessments.