New York’s top education official says she supports the idea of a cost study that could lead to changes in how the state funds local schools.
Lawmakers made changes last year to the more than 15-year-old formula used to determine the distribution of what’s known as foundation aid. But state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa told lawmakers during a budget hearing Thursday that rising costs still aren’t fully reflected.
“I do think that there is a fundamental need to look at our formula, and to see not only inputs, but inputs and outputs, and the impact that it has on urban, suburban, rural, across the board,” Rosa said.
The changes lawmakers made last year addressed English Language Learners, considered updated poverty data and adjusted regional costs in Westchester County.
Educators told lawmakers that the updates didn’t go far enough to deal with rising costs elsewhere, and with students who are experiencing homelessness or are in foster care. They also said English Language Learners should factor more heavily into the allocations.
“The students who entered kindergarten when foundation aid was established have already graduated college,” said Brian Fessler, with the New York State School Boards Association. “We need to ensure that our main school funding formula is reflecting the needs of today and tomorrow’s students and not the needs of students from a generation and two ago.”
The annual debate over school funding and the formula comes as New York like many other states is seeing a decade-long decline in K-12 enrollment, driven by lower birth rates, migration, economics.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed that all districts receive at least a 1% increase in foundation aid this year, which educators said would amount to a cut in those districts because of inflation. That would apply to roughly 460 districts across the state, according to Rosa, whose position is appointed by the Legislature, not the governor.
“I’ve been in communication with many of the superintendents and … some of them have challenges with even the cost of health care, making choices about, you know, programmatic, instructional … many of these issues, so we are clearly hopeful that we can work through the issue of that 1%,” Rosa told lawmakers.
Hochul’s budget proposal includes $39.3 billion in overall school aid, which would be the highest in state history. The governor agreed to call for a study of Foundation Aid after her 2024 budget proposal caused controversy among educators, but educators said only small changes have been made. Still, they applauded the governor for continuing to fully fund Foundation Aid.
“While she continues to make record investments in school funding, she looks forward to negotiating with her partners in the Legislature in the coming weeks to ensure every New York student has access to a quality education,” said Emma Wallner, a spokesperson for the governor.