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Yonkers Joins Lawsuit For Fair Education Funding

YONKERS, N.Y. – A Supreme Court Judge has ruled that the city of Yonkers is now a plaintiff in the landmark case of New Yorkers for Students’ Educational Rights v. State of New York.

Yonkers City Council member Dennis Sheperd, Council President Liam McLaughlin and Majority Leader John Larkin address recent NYSER v. New York court ruling.

Yonkers City Council member Dennis Sheperd, Council President Liam McLaughlin and Majority Leader John Larkin address recent NYSER v. New York court ruling.

Photo Credit: City of Yonkers

The decision comes months after the City Council voted to intervene in the action on behalf of the plaintiffs -- students who have been denied the opportunity for a “sound basic education” by Albany‘s systematic underfunding of schools.

“The children of Yonkers are finally getting their day in court after years of being systematically underfunded by Albany,” said Council President Liam McLaughlin. “Today’s decision is groundbreaking, and we are the first municipality that has been allowed to intervene in a lawsuit like this. We are confident that courts will continue to agree with our arguments that Yonkers is not receiving its fair share of school aid from Albany.”

Along with NYSER, 15 parents from across the state filed the original lawsuit. Gretchen Mullins Kim is an attorney, Yonkers resident and one of the co-plaintiffs in the original lawsuit, on behalf of her children, Theodore, a student at Yonkers Middle-High School, and Enzo, a student at PEARLS.

The court also denied the state’s motion to dismiss the suit, which was brought by the same education attorneys who argued the successful Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuits. The NYSER lawsuit argues the state has failed to comply with the Court of Appeals decisions in the CFE cases.

Yonkers is the first city to successfully join the CFE cases. 

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