The New York State Education Department is proposing a boost in public school spending in the next state budget.
The additional money would support initiatives like expanding universal prekindergarten, updating graduation measures, and providing more foundation aid for schools.
“It is imperative that we invest in the future of our students, the quality of their schools, and the development of the teachers and administrators who support them,” state education Commissioner Betty Rosa said in a statement.
Sean Giambattista, the department’s director of state aid, said proposed changes also include updating outdated calculations for how educators are paid.
“Education is a very labor-intensive endeavor,” Giambattista said in a recent Board of Regents meeting, “and it’s important that in areas where there’s a premium for salaries because of cost of living, the formula reflects that. At present, the regional cost index is based on data from 2006.”
The updated wage index would be based on 2024 instead, he said.
The department also wants to increase direct funding to schools by $2 billion next year and to update the distribution formula, which has been criticized as being outdated.
The proposed increase reflects updated calculations, including swapping out census data on poverty from 2000 with more recent data.
Other priorities include an additional $25 million for pre-K programs.
Districts would be prioritized for pre-K funding based on how many economically disadvantaged and English language learners are in younger grades, Giambattista said.
“The Regents in the past have just expressed a goal of universal, truly actually universal by 2030,” he said. “This is an interim step.”
The state education department also wants to increase spending for arts education. That includes scholarships for state summer school arts programs.
“The Board of Regents is dedicated to ensuring that all students in New York State, regardless of their background or circumstances, have access to the opportunities and resources they need to thrive academically and beyond,” Regents Chancellor Lester Young said in a statement.