Racism in Education Funding? Examining the SUNY and CUNY Funding Gap
Is the New York State Legislature engaged in discriminatory racial practices when it comes to funding the state’s students?
While racism is difficult to prove, funding statistics are easier to analyze. In 2005 the legislature funded the SUNY student body (80% white) at $10,677 per student; meanwhile, CUNY students (about 70% of whom are people of color) received $5,046.
Whatever the reason, the legislature is repeatedly cheating New York City children and adults out of their basic right to an education. The State Constitution says that the “legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated.” But the state legislature has endeavored to shirk their duty to uphold this law for years. This has especially hurt New York City, depriving students of a chance at a basic education.
In 1995, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the state is obligated to teach all children “the basic literacy, calculating, and verbal skills necessary to enable children to eventually function productively as civic participants capable of voting and serving on a jury,” and to provide “minimally adequate physical facilities and classrooms which provide enough light, space, heat, and air to permit children to learn,” “minimally adequate instrumentalities of learning such as desks, chairs, pencils, and reasonably current textbooks,” and “minimally adequate teaching of reasonably up-to-date basic curricula such as reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies, by sufficient personnel adequately trained to teach those subject areas.”(1)
The state’s response? For years, the New York State Legislature has denied New York City the over $4.7 billion dollars the Court determined the state owed New York City’s public schools.
What about higher education? In his 2006 budget address Governor Pataki said, “Our funding per student is now among the highest of any state in America…. My budget provides a record level of operating support for SUNY (the State University) and CUNY (New York City’s University)….”
From first-hand experience I know about teaching at CUNY. After my interview at Baruch Continuing Education, when I was offered the teaching job, my supervisor handed me an eraser and told me that this was my benefits package. “You’re going to need it. The classrooms often don’t have them.” But enough about me, let’s look at the facts.
In 1990, New York state government funded the SUNY students at the rate of $7,885 per student and CUNY students at the rate of $7,023 per student. CUNY was still being ripped off, but we were almost even. Today, New York State funds SUNY at the rate of $10,677 per student and CUNY at the rate of $5,046 per student.(2)
That is not a typographical error. CUNY students are funded at half the rate of SUNY students.
Is this a result of state-sanctioned racism? What does skin color have to do with it? I don’t know. But here’s some data. Maybe you can make some sense of it.
According to www.censusscope.org, as of 2000, in all but four of New York State’s 62 counties, more than 64% of residents were white. By contrast, whites are minorities in four of the five New York City boroughs/counties: the Bronx is 14.58% white, Queens is 32.88% white, Brooklyn is 34.67% white, Manhattan is 45.76% white. CUNY’s student population reflects New York City’s diversity. Thirty-one percent of CUNY students are black, 29% white, 25% Hispanic, 14% Asian, and the rest are mostly Native American.
What is SUNY’s racial mix? The most recent statistics posted on the New York State Department of Education web site were from 1996. While I do not know why there is such a lag in posting this data, I am assuming that, unlike the funding data, the racial statistics have not changed that dramatically in the last ten years. Governor Pataki, please tell me I’m wrong. In the SUNY system in 1996, 79.9% of the students were white. 7.8% black, 4.5% Asian, 4.9% Hispanic and the remaining few are resident aliens, Native Americans and others.
So, in 2005, New York State funded the 414,201 SUNY students (approximately 79% of which were white) at $10,677 per student. And in 2005, the 220,486 CUNY students (71% of whom are not white) had their education funded at $5,046 per student.
I don’t really know if racism is causing New York State to grossly underfund the education of New York City’s children and adults. Maybe the legislature in Albany just hates and cheats New York City for no reason. But the result looks like racism. And discrimination is not only illegal, it’s disgusting. Please bear in mind: Correlation is not causation. You’ve seen some of the facts. Go out and do some more digging. You decide. Then act.
(1) For more information see Michael Dorf at http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20060329.html.
(2) Figures from The Chief, the civil employees’ weekly paper (12/23/05).
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