Judge: State must release $69M grants to struggling schools
A judge has ordered the state Division of Budget to immediately release some $69 million in grant money to 19 struggling schools across the state, nearly four months after parents from three of the schools sued the state for withholding the money.
The Wednesday ruling by State Supreme Court Justice Kimberly A. O’Connor said the Division of Budget had exceeded its legal authority by withholding the funds, which were meant to support turnaround plans at schools the state Education Department had labeled “persistently struggling” in 2015. The division decided to withhold the funds at the direction of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, which argued that once the Education Department removed that label from nine of the schools in February 2016 they were no longer entitled to the money.
The Education Department, however, said the schools had improved enough to no longer be considered persistently struggling and, along with parents who filed suit, argued it was unfair to promise funding and then take it away as soon as schools showed any sign of progress.
The ruling sided with parents, who represented William S. Hackett Middle School in Albany, Roosevelt High School in Yonkers and JHS 80 Mosholu Parkway Middle School in the Bronx.
Read more: http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/270629/judge-state-must-release-69m-grants-to-struggling-schools/