New York school funding fix boosts money for English-language learners, low-income students

ALBANY — Changes to New York's nearly two-decade-old method of allocating school funding will send more state dollars to districts to support English language learners and low-income students and guarantee at least a 2% increase in state aid annually.

The changes, part of the state’s $254 billion budget, modify the complex funding formula known as Foundation Aid, which was enacted in the 2007-08 school year. Foundation Aid, put in place to ensure students receive a "sound basic education," is the single largest source of financial support for public schools in the state, sending billions of dollars to Nassau and Suffolk counties alone.

The final budget includes $37.6 billion in total school aid for the 2025-26 school year, a $1.7 billion increase over last year. It includes $26.4 billion in Foundation Aid, a $1.4 billion increase over last year.

"I am happy to see the final budget includes some of our priorities like providing every district with a guaranteed minimum increase, providing more aid to our highest needs districts and updating some of the data sources used in the formula," Assemb. Doug Smith (R-Holbrook) said in an emailed statement.

The formula largely hasn’t been updated to keep up with changing student populations, regional costs and changes in poverty — changes education advocates have been pushing for nearly two decades to ensure more equitable aid distribution.

The state budget, which the State Legislature passed Thursday night , makes some of those adjustments including updating poverty data and replacing 2000 Census data; increasing aid for English language learners, who typically need additional support services; and raising and expanding funding and reimbursements for shared services and career and technical education programs such as those provided by boards of cooperative educational services, or BOCES.

The budget also tweaks the formula to ensure each district gets at least a 2% increase in aid annually.

The changes evoked mixed emotions from education advocates, many of whom would like to see the state go farther.

"Overall we’re pleased with the beginning of the process to make some of these changes," Brian Fessler, chief advocacy officer for the New York State School Boards Association, told Newsday. 

Making changes as part of a multiyear process is "reasonable" and helps provide stability for districts, but there’s more to do, Fessler said. "We’re hopeful that this isn’t the end of updating the formula."

'Good first steps'

State lawmakers last year earmarked $2 million for the Rockefeller Institute of Government to analyze Foundation Aid. The Albany-based think tank in December released a 314-page report outlining recommended changes.

Only a few were included in the budget.

"When you do a partial job like that it's inherently going to be distorted because some districts are going to benefit from the few changes you're making and some are not going to benefit," said Michael Rebell, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University and executive director of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College.

For example, updates to poverty data are expected to help Long Island, which has seen an increase in poverty rates in recent years, but it means less of a boost for New York City schools, which have seen a decrease, education experts said. But both Long Island and the city will likely benefit from the increase in aid for English language learners, as districts see rises in the population.

Rebell said he would like to see an entirely new formula, particularly since so much has changed in the last two decades with pandemic-learning loss and increased mental health needs.

Robert Lowry, deputy director for the New York State Council of School Superintendents, said he would have liked to have seen higher weightings in the formula for other factors such as sending more aid for students in foster care or taking housing insecurity into consideration.

Brian Cechnicki, executive director of Association of School Business Officials of New York, said he was happy to see most of the changes were data-driven not policy driven. "There’s certainly a ton of room for improvement in the formula overall, but I think we’ve always recognized the reality that it all wouldn’t happen all at once, so I think these are good first steps."