Advocates Ask Albany To Reject School Spending Plan

Advocates are already preparing to ask Albany to reject a plan submitted by the city this week detailing how schools will spend a new influx of state funds.

State regulations require that the funds, part of over $5 billion won in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit last year, target five policies in low-performing and overcrowded schools. They include class-size reduction, teacher quality, and increasing students' "time on task." Advocates last week said the city's first draft of the plan, known as the Contract for Excellence, flouted the requirements.

The final plan has some revisions, including a promise that the department of education will hold itself accountable by publishing a list of goals in each of the five areas by August.

But advocates aren't satisfied. A member of the Panel for Educational Policy, Patrick Sullivan, and the equity campaign's executive director, Geri Palast, said they will now go to Albany to seek a better plan.