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82 percent of students failed to achieve proficiency in Math and over 78percent failed to achieve proficiency in ELA. in the Central Islip Union Free District (92 percent non-white, 26 percentELL, and 83 percent eligible for free or reduced price lunch), over 91percent failed to achieve proficiency in Math and over 88 percent failed toachieve proficiency in ELA. 24Middletown’s ELL achievement numbers were similar to these high-need,underfunded districts: 2 percent of Middletown’s ELL students scored in the proficient range forELL, and 2 percent scored in the proficient range for math.Despite Middletown’s ardent efforts to defeat linguistic barriers, the State’sfailure to equitably distribute Foundation Aid has had tangible deleterious effects onMiddletown’s ELLs. Like many other high-need school districts, none of Middletown’s ELLsgraduated with advanced designation diplomas, the State’s measure of college and careerreadiness, in the 2012 or 2013 school years. 25The State’s inequitable distribution of FoundationAid has created serious and insurmountable barriers to Middletown’s ability to meet the needs ofits ELLs, including:the inability to provide bilingual special education classes.understaffing, resulting in bilingual classes with high pupil to teacherratios and insufficient pull-out ESL servicesinsufficient Academic Intervention Servicesinsufficient teaching materials for both ESL and content areas24 See https://reportcards.nysed.gov/25 See Press Release,http://www.oms.nysed.gov/press/GraduationRates2012OverallImproveSlightlyButStillTooLow.html, accessedOctober 2013.24
The cost of ELL instruction that complies with constitutional mandates farexceeds the only financial assistance the State provides school districts for such purposes. NewYork, through its inequitable distribution of Foundation Aid, has failed to devote sufficient“practices, resources and personnel” to ensure that ELLs in low-wealth districts like Middletownmake meaningful academic progress, or “transform theory into reality.” The State’s recentassessments demonstrate that low-wealth districts like Middletown simply do not have theresources to ensure that their programs “bear out practical results” for their most vulnerablestudents. Castaneda, 648 F.2d at 1009. New York’s inequitable funding structure has severelycompromised Middletown’s ability to provide for the needs of its non-English speaking students.This linguistic discrimination violates the EEOA.V. CONCLUSIONFor the above-stated reasons, the Department of Education should fullyinvestigate this Complaint and direct the Respondents to: (1) discontinue or remedy theirinequitable, racially discriminatory methods of funding public education in New York; and (2)provide adequate funds to local school districts to enable them to remove barriers to participationin educational programs for ELL students.25
Page 5: were eligible for free or reduced p
Page 8 and 9: Race to the Top application. 8The C
Page 10: school districts were assessed a De
Page 15: Middletown, a “minority-as-majori
Page 18 and 19: egulations, or orders of general ap
Page 20 and 21: Cir. 1999) (quoting Bazemore v. Fri
Page 22 and 23: that the “minimum base level for
Page 26: Dated: Garden City, New YorkSyracus

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