New York State Senate Education Committee Subject Files Concerning State Financial Aid for Education

Lois Wilson had a long career in the field of education, working for both public and private sector institutions. Her positions included assistant to the director, Assembly Office of Legislative Research (1960-1965); assistant director of studies for the New York State Teachers Association/New York State United Teachers (1965-1973); deputy secretary to the governor (March 29, 1973 - December 31, 1974) and special assistant to the governor for education (January 1-July 24, 1975); special assistant for education, State Budget Division, Education Unit (1975-1983); administrator of educational research for the State Education Department (1983-1984); administrator for school finance services, N.Y.S. School Boards Association (1984-1988); vice president, Educational Finance Services Division, MDI Associates (March 1988-January 1989); and director, Senate Education Committee (1989-1997). She also served as a member of the Task Force on Equal Employment Opportunities for Women in New York State Government (1973-1974).

These subject files document Lois Wilson's work at a variety of positions with responsibility for education policy. Subjects center around the topic of state financial aid to education. Included is material generated by or related to several task forces on educational finance reform, including the New York State Task Force on Implementing Educational Reform (1989); New York State Commission on the Quality, Cost, and Financing of Elementary and Secondary Education (Fleischmann Commission, 1972); Task Force on State Aid to Elementary and Secondary Schools (1973); and the Temporary State Commission on the Distribution of State Aid to Local School Districts (1988).

Material includes reports to and by the task forces; meeting files; legal briefs, opinions and decisions; fiscal statistics; bill files; and written responses and examinations before trials.

There are files on several court cases related to school aid and funding, including Levittown v. Nyquist, a challenge to the New York method of financing primary and secondary education on the grounds of violations of both the federal and state constitutions (New York State Supreme Court 1976-1977, Appellate Court 1980-1982).

14150Series 14150, Levittown vs. Nyquist files, and

L0109Series L0109, Public Hearing Files, contain additional records on the case of Levittown v. Nyquist.

L0226-98: Folder list is available at the repository.

These records were donated to the New York State Archives by Lois Wilson in 2018.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.