Maisto, et al. v. State of New York

The NYCLU filed an amicus brief in Maisto, et al. v. State of New York in support of the plaintiffs — families with children in eight different small city school districts across New York. The eight small city school districts in this case have struggled, due to insufficient financial and other assistance from the State, to provide the opportunity for a “sound basic education” as is guaranteed by New York’s Constitution.

The NYCLU argues the trial court failed to address adequately the constitutional claims presented in this case by parents on behalf of their children. Our brief demonstrates that the resources made available to a school district and the performance of the district’s students and schools must be viewed as interdependent in order to evaluate the constitutional sufficiency of a school district’s provision of a sound basic education. 

We argue that the court should make a determination that the evidence presented by the plaintiffs in this case clearly shows a violation of New York’s Education Article’s guarantee of a sound basic education.