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HISTORIC VICTORY FOR GAYS.
BUDGET POSTPONES REALITY.
SCHOOLS TO GAIN FUNDING,
AQUI NO SE HABLA INGLES.
June 27, 2003
The last few days have seen important decisions by the Federal,
State and City governments with respect to human rights and education.
First, the Supreme Court held that the states could no longer
punish private, consensual, non-commercial sex between adults, no matter
what the gender of the parties, or what modality they employ to fulfill themselves
or their partners.
Second, the New York State Court of Appeals invalidated the
state's current system of financing public education. Schools are often
funded by property taxes, with rich districts having more money to spend
than poor ones. Therefore it is believed that their students receive
a superior education. The Court gave the state a year to find a better
solution to the problem.
Third, the Mayor and Speaker agreed on a city budget.
It provides some spending increases, anticipates a substantial budget gap
in 2004, and counts on an improving economy to reduce the deficit.
Fourth, the Mayor and Chancellor seem to have abandoned their
efforts to abolish social promotion and bilingual education, systems which,
along with special education, have left in their wake hundreds of thousands
of children, aged out of the school system, unable to read or write in the
English language.
The Supreme Court decision is of remarkable and historic importance,
and June 26, 2003, will be known as a red letter day, particularly in the
years it falls on a Sunday, the day of the gay rights parade. (The
first such year is 2005.) The decision is in fact an expression of
social values, as Justice Scalia points out grimly in his dissent.
The Constitution, of course, does not mention sodomy, but its preamble states
as one purpose “to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our
posterity.” Definitions of liberty change with succeeding generations.
When the Constitution was ratified in June 1788, human slavery was an accepted
practice. The times, they are a changin'.
It is particularly satisfying that the opinion was written
by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, and
concurred in by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, another Reagan selection.
Their decision reflects a massive change in public feeling over the years,
not a left-wing conspiracy. Remember, this is the same Court that decided
Bush v. Gore in 2000.
The New York State Court of Appeals decision on a ten-year-old
case is meant to break a legislative logjam, where arguments of greed and
self-interest have been cloaked in principle. It makes sense for the judges
to step in to require the Legislature to re-examine educational financing,
as many states have already done. The Court wisely gave New York a
year to reform; let’s see what the triumvirs who rule us come up with.
The city budget for fiscal 2004 marks another year of spending
every penny you have or intend to borrow, and taking pride in that. The Mayor raised his own budget by $90 million to gain credit for restorations
the Council would have made anyway. In ‘negotiations’, the Council
added another $115 million, but why worry? If the money is there, it
will be spent, if not, the budget will be reduced mid-year, as has happened
in each of the last five years. United States Supreme Court Justice
Owen J. Roberts, who served on the Court from 1930 to 1945, said that a Supreme
Court decision was like "a restricted railroad ticket, good for this day
and train only". That statement is even more applicable to New York
City budgets, which are often mere expressions of optimism and goodwill, intended to gratify or, at least, placate constituencies.
One of the weaknesses of this administration is its inability
to find cost savings other than by service reductions, or if they do find
them, not announcing them for people to savor. Forty years ago, the
position of Deputy Mayor - City Administrator was created under Mayor Wagner,
pursuant to the Cahill charter. The office withered in the Lindsay
administration, and was subsequently swallowed by the Bureau of the Budget.
This is a tack that the Independent Budget Office could usefully perform;
it would save the city far more than the IBO’s own $2.7 million budget.
The education news is more dreary; retreat on social promotions,
abandonment of immersion (an important part of candidate Bloomberg’s educational
program, defined as teaching in the language of the country in which you
live, or another country if you know your own language and want to visit
there). There are as yet no major moves in special education, which covers
children with physical and emotional problems. Social promotions, bilingualism
(133,000 students) and special education (120,000 students) are three sacred
cows that conceal massive failure.
The Chancellor has been tough on the United Federation of Teachers
for playing the race card and rushing into court. Randi Weingarten's
harsh allegations did not result in her members' inclusion in the restoration
package. Other pressure groups, acting more privately, have more purposefully
preserved their profitable public pastures of privilege and pelf.
Under Chancellor Joel Klein, education has had more wholesome
structural change than any other agency. Perhaps the Department
of Education has temporarily exhausted its capacity for initiative, doesn’t
want to bite off more than it can chew (masticar, to educrats), or is under
the influence of the $245,000 deputy for instruction, whose resume is long
because her tenure in each city is short. Klein is able, dedicated
and a fine lawyer. However, we expect the most from those who have done the
most, because we know they are capable of doing even more.
FOOTNOTE: In last week’s comments on the sins of the Brooklyn
judiciary, our summary of press coverage unintentionally omitted the New
York Sun, which has had stories by Colin Miner and Jack Newfield on the issue
daily. You cannot hyperlink their articles without special permission,
but the paper only costs 25 cents and is well worth reading. It has
a different and refreshing point of view.
Henry J. Stern
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New York Civic
520 Eighth Avenue, Room 2205
New York, NY 10018
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(212) 564-4441
StarQuest@nycivic.org
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www.nycivic.org
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