NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- An appeal of a New York lawsuit that calls for equal funding for all school districts in the state is holding up the building of new schools.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday on his radio program that without the state funding the city will be forced to delay more than 23 major school construction projects, the New York Times reported Saturday.
The mayor's five-year, $13.1 billion capital plan for the schools includes a campus of small high schools in the Bronx and a high school in Brooklyn, but it needs a minimum of $1.8 billion from Albany to get construction started.
Bloomberg wants Albany to pick up half the cost of the school construction -- $6.5 billion -- on top of the state's normal contribution to school construction efforts.
A court order currently mandates that the state spend $5.6 billion in additional operating aid each year, but that is under appeal.
