Ruling orders $5.6B for NYC; State ordered to produce a plan to increase public funding for Big Apple schools by April 1.(Main)

Byline: RICK KARLIN Capitol bureau

ALBANY - The Appellate Division on Thursday ordered Gov. George Pataki and the Legislature to ensure that up to $5.63 billion a year more is allocated for New York City schools, and to come up with a plan to do so by the April 1 deadline for setting the state budget.

"Defendants are directed to act as expeditiously as possible to implement a budget that allows the city students the education to which they are entitled," the court said in a 3-2 decision.

Members of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, the group which more than a decade ago brought suit on behalf of the 1.1-million-student New York City school system, said …