After Shifts, State Will Grant Funds To City Schools

The state is releasing $428 million in new school funds to 55 school districts judged as needing improvement — but many of the districts, including New York City, had to change their original proposals before they could receive it, shifting 75% of all funds directly to the neediest students and erasing programs not considered in line with the governor's policy goals.

The city schools chancellor, Joel Klein, who joined Governor Spitzer at a news conference in Buffalo yesterday, said the state push is in line with the Bloomberg administration's agenda.

The president of the city teachers union, Randi Weingarten, praised the city's agreement to a new five-year plan to reduce class sizes as "a good step."