Today’s important victory means that the governor – after arguing that an eighth-grade education is good enough for our children – will finally have to fix our state’s unfair and inequitable education funding system. All students are entitled to a solid education, no matter where they live, and the Campaign for Fiscal Equity’s win in court should spur our state and localities toward fulfilling that promise.

This ruling means that schools in our community that have been historically short-changed will now have the opportunity to get their fair share. Brentwood, Bay Shore, Central Islip and Islip Schools will have the opportunity to give every child access to pre-K, reduce class size and have modern classrooms. Our community will have confidence in knowing that every child learns from a well-qualified, well-trained teacher.

My only regret is that had the governor listened to educators and professionals from around the state years ago and followed the Assembly’s lead in promoting early education programs, we would already be much closer to our goal.