Judge blocks New York state from withholding $250 million from New York City schools

A judge has blocked New York state from withholding $250 million in school aid for New York City as punishment for missing last month’s deadline to adopt a new teacher evaluation system. Schoolbook.org says that plaintiffs in the suit argue that the loss of funds would deprive city students of their right to a “sound, basic education” under state law. The state had argued that the loss of funding would not cause “irreparable injury,” and that it needed to enforce a teacher evaluation system as a condition for a $700 million federal Race to the Top grant it won in 2010. A spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state intends to appeal.