October 19, 2015  

  
 
On  Wednesday, November 4, at 2:30 p.m. , New York State Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez will hear the plaintiffs' and defendant's arguments in the case of  New Yorkers for Students Educational Rights (NYSER) v. State of New York . The hearing will be held at the NYS Supreme Court, 71 Thomas Street (between West Broadway and Church Streets), in downtown New York City.
 
Both sides are asking the court to make an immediate decision on whether the state has failed to carry out its constitutional obligation to provide all New York students the opportunity for a "sound basic education" (that is, a meaningful high school education that adequately prepares young people to meet state learning standards and for civic participation and good jobs). 

The hearing is open to the public, and we encourage you to attend. Come with students, parents, educators, elected officials, and anyone else with a huge stake in the outcome of this case!

NYC High School Students to Dramatize Educational Inequities in Pre-Hearing Street Theatre at 1:30 P.M. 
 
At 1:30 p.m., on the sidewalk outside the courthouse, be inspired and entertained by an educational-equity play written and performed by New York public school students who recently learned about--and now are standing up for--their educational rights! 

The students, participants in the  Educational Equity ACTion! Project--a collaboration between the Campaign for Educational Equity and the Epic Theatre Ensemble's Epic NEXT program--will perform a 20-minute version of 10467, their brilliant new play that  asks audiences, "Why do we stand down when we should stand up in the battle against educational injustice? And how do we make sure that students' zip codes don't determine the quality of their educational opportunities?"



After the Performance, Stay for the Courtroom Drama!
The NYSER plaintiffs--public school parents from around the state, major statewide organizations, and education advocacy groups--have made a strong case that, for the past five years, the state has failed to implement the funding increases and education-finance reforms that it passed into law in 2007, following the court's 2006 ruling in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. v. State of New York (CFE) lawsuit.
Although in recent years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the legislature have restored some of the cuts to education funding from the years following the recession, plaintiffs claim that core foundation funding for education in 2015-16 will still be almost $5 billion less than the state itself has determined to be necessary to provide all students the opportunity for a sound basic education.
 
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the state no later than the 2016-17 school year either to (a) provide full funding in accordance with the funding formula that became law in 2007 or (b) develop and implement an alternative education-finance system that meets constitutional requirements.

We hope to see you at this important event! 
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Campaign for Educational Equity

Teachers College,

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