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NYC Public Schools Get Another Funding Boost
By
Jessica Gould
Published Apr 19, 2021
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By
Jessica Gould
Published Apr 19, 2021
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New York City officials have announced plans to boost many individual public school budgets, allowing those schools to avoid layoffs and invest in teachers, social workers, activities and support for students.
At a press conference Monday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter said the city will invest an additional $600 million annually to ensure all schools are now fully funded according to a city formula called “fair student funding.” Officials said 1,164 schools serving some 700,000 students across the city will see additional dollars -- an investment made possible by a historic increase in state education funding.
The fair student formula is the main source of money for schools, so additional funds will flow directly to school budgets. Developed in 2007, the formula aims to target funding to schools with higher-needs populations, including schools that serve more students with disabilities, are learning English, or who come from low-income families. According to the education department, schools with high concentrations of poverty are supposed to get 20% more funding overall than schools without.
But many schools never received 100% of the funding they were due under the formula, in part because the state never fulfilled its court-mandated funding obligation to districts. Now that legislators in Albany have dramatically increased education funding statewide, officials said New York City will finally be able to fund schools as intended.
“Principals can use this money to hire staff, [buy] materials, supplies and more at a time when our students need an incredible amount of academic, social and emotional care,” Porter said. “The progress we’ve seen in our schools will be supercharged,” said de Blasio.
Council member Mark Treyger, who chairs the council’s education committee, said Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island will see a $2.1 million increase in its budget, for example.
But some education advocates said the formula itself remains flawed. One concern: It drives funding to schools with large populations of low performing and high performing students, because both are seen to need additional resources. Specialized schools, which have among the most segregated student populations in the city, receive additional funding under the formula.
State Senator John Liu, who chairs the state senate’s New York City Education Committee, said the whole point of increasing state education funding was to boost money for individual schools. But he said the formula should be updated.
“While I am very happy the mayor is using the additional foundation aid to fully fund schools according to the fair student funding formula, the formula itself is long overdue for overhaul. It’s outdated,” he said.
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Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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