JPS Administrators Testify in Small Cities Lawsuit

ALBANY – Officials with the Jamestown School District were in Albany Monday to testify in the Small City Schools Lawsuit, which involves eight small city school districts filing a lawsuit against the state for failing to provide appropriate school funding.

Both Superintendent Tim Mains and Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Jessie Joy provided testimony in the trial, which began on Jan. 21 after more than six years of delays.

In the lawsuit, which is known as Maisto v. New York, the eight school districts argue that both parents and teachers have experienced the negative effects of inadequate state aid. The districts say that state cuts in education funding are depriving students of the “sound basic education” that they are entitled to under the New York Constitution.

The eight districts believe they deserve a more equitable distribution of state aid to fund daily operations. They would like to see a restoration in state aid totaling $255 million annually, to help offset the state’s freezing of funding under the New York Foundation Aid Formula several years ago.