"This is good news for the taxpayers of New York. Anytime you have an unfunded mandate, at any level, it means higher taxes for taxpayers. I am glad the court today refused to mandate. It is important to note that New York State already spends the 2nd most in the nation on education per student. We increase spending at the state and local levels every year by record amounts. We didn't need a court mandating even greater spending levels. The courts shouldn't be in the business of telling the state's elected officials how to spend taxpayer money.

"What we need to do is to ensure our schools - both upstate and downstate - not only have the resources, but that the resources reach the classrooms and reach the students. We are all in favor of fair and appropriate school funding, but we need to spend wisely. We can't just throw money around. We need greater accountability."