For the first time in more than 15 years, the State is reexamining the formula it uses to determine how much per-pupil education funding, or Foundation Aid, school districts receive from Albany. While Governor Hochul and the State Legislature took a positive step by fully funding of the Foundation Aid formula in 2023, the formula itself includes outdated and incomplete measures of need and has not evolved to account for growing costs, particularly in large urban districts. While the City and the State once contributed roughly equal amounts to the New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) budget, today the City’s share far exceeds that of the State.

As the joint statement released today notes, “Every child in New York State has the right to a sound, basic education—and providing such an education requires adequate and equitable funding. The Foundation Aid formula must be updated to reflect the true cost of educating young people in the 2020s and beyond.” To this end, the organizations are calling for changes to the formula to help ensure New York City schools can meet the needs of all students, including students with disabilities, English Language Learners (ELLs), students from low-income families, students experiencing homelessness, and others who need additional support. These recommendations include:

• Adding a per-pupil weight for students in temporary housing and students in the foster system. At present, the Foundation Aid formula does not provide districts with any additional funding to help meet the needs of these student populations, both of whom face tremendous obstacles to success in school and have distinct educational needs.
• Including funding for students in 3-K and Pre-K, who are currently left out of the formula entirely. While the State contributes funding for New York City’s Pre-K program, it provides no financial support for 3-K, which serves around 40,000 children.
• Providing resources to implement the State’s new class size requirements for New York City. The State has allocated no additional funding to help NYCPS meet this legislative mandate, which is projected to cost at least $1.6 billion annually.

The groups spearheading this effort—which include New York City social service providers, early childhood programs, civil rights organizations, advocacy organizations, and groups representing students, parents, and educators—came together last year as the Emergency Coalition to Save Education Programs, which successfully advocated for the continuation of more than $700 million worth of education programs that had been at risk of elimination due to the expiration of federal COVID-19 stimulus funding.