Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox.
Expanding funding for early college programs, increasing support for students experiencing homelessness and learning English as a new language, and giving more money for summer arts programs were a few of the priorities that the New York’s Board of Regents presented on Monday.
For its annual budget proposal, the Regents asked for an additional $1.1 billion next fiscal year, hoping their recommendations inform Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers as they are set to begin the new legislative season.
Notably, the board asked to increase money for the Foundation Aid formula, which comprises the largest component of school funding for the state. The formula sends money to districts based on student needs, and board members are calling for increases in the amount districts would get for serving students experiencing homelessness as well as those learning English as a new language.
With no adjustments, Foundation Aid would get a $713.5 million increase in funding under the current law, totalling $27.1 billion. However, the board would like an additional $283.3 million increase in the formula, saying that its priorities reflected the population of students with the highest need. New York City had a record high number of homeless students last school year, with roughly 154,000 children living in shelters or doubled up with family or friends. An estimated 19% of students, or about 152,500, were learning English as a new language.
The state last year tweaked the two-decade-old Foundation Aid formula to update various metrics, and while New York City got more Foundation Aid overall, schools in the five boroughs would have gotten an additional $300 million had the changes not been made.
Board members also would like $10.9 million to expand the College in High School Opportunity Funds in response to growing interest in early college programs in which high school students take college courses and graduate with an associate degree.
The Regents also are pushing for $5 million for P-Teach to address the teacher shortage by helping students work toward teaching careers. The program is modeled on P-Tech, which supports high school students in working toward an associate degree and trains them for careers in STEM.
A significant portion of the budget, $20 million, is proposed to go towards pre-K expansion. The grant would not be competitive, but calculated based on student need. The goal is to reach 85% of kindergarten enrollment in pre-K seats throughout 35 districts statewide, said Sean Giambattista, the director of state aid at the New York State Education Department. New York City already has a universal pre-K program.
In response to federal actions that are putting schools and cultural institutions at risk, the Regents also shared proposals in their budget that protect equity and inclusion. The recommendations included a $800,000 increase for the Summer School for the Arts program, a statewide initiative that provides intensive pre-professional training for high schoolers at college campuses.
Regent Francis G. Wills said school leaders are facing new challenges and Regent Shino Tanikawa added that the proposal reflected the board’s collective values.
“If people say [a] budget is a moral document, I think that’s what we have here,” Tanikawa said.
Jessica Shuran Yu is a New York City-based journalist. You can reach her at jshuranyu@chalkbeat.org.
