AFTER YEARS OF SUSTAINED ADVOCACY, NY TAKES BIG STEP TOWARDS FULL SCHOOL FUNDING

Low-Income Students and Students of Color Will Benefit Most

New York State parents, students and  advocates secured a major victory in the 2021 legislative session, when, after 12 years, legislators and Governor Andrew Cuomo  committed to full funding of the state’s Foundation Aid school funding formula. The first installment of a three-year phase-in – an increase of $1.4 billion – will be followed by an estimated $2.5 billion increase over the next two years.

A new analysis by  Education Law Center (ELC) Senior Researcher Mary McKillip demonstrates that the increases in Foundation Aid will benefit schools in the state’s highest poverty districts, consistent with the original goal of the formula. The formula was designed to deliver more resources to give low-income students a meaningful opportunity for academic success. 

“The delivery of the first of three installments of aid increases to reach full formula funding by 2023-4 is an outright win for New York’s public school students, especially those in the state’s high poverty, racially isolated districts,” said Jasmine Gripper, Executive Director of Alliance for Quality Education (AQE). “It also is a testament to the constant pressure put on lawmakers through the multi-faceted advocacy campaign involving parents and advocacy partners from across the state, year in and year out.”

The Foundation Aid formula was enacted in 2007 to respond to a ruling by New York’s highest court in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State lawsuit that declared the state’s school finance system unconstitutional. In enacting the Formula, the State committed to increasing state aid by $5.5 billion over four years but defaulted on this promise after two years. Ever since, the Formula has remained deeply underfunded.

The ELC analysis shows that in the first year of implementation, districts with higher concentrations of students in poverty will receive an average of $676 per pupil compared to $212 per pupil in the lowest need districts. Over the next two years, the highest poverty districts are slated to receive an estimated increase of $1,058 per pupil, compared to $544 per pupil in the wealthiest districts.

For example, Buffalo, with 83% of its 38,000 students in poverty, will see a $43 million dollar increase in state aid for the 2021-2022 school year, with an anticipated $55 million in additional aid over the following two years.

New York’s legislative victory was achieved by a sustained grassroots advocacy campaign led by AQE, a statewide organization committed to school finance reform. The campaign included litigation challenging the State’s underfunding of public education.

In Maisto v. State, an Appellate Court in May 2021 ruled that the State’s failure to provide adequate funds to schools in eight small cities districts violated the rights of district students to a sound basic education under the State Constitution. The Maisto decision recognized that the obligation to adequately fund public schools “takes on a heightened status in economically distressed school districts” where social workers, guidance counselors and other staff and services are essential.

NYSER v. State centers on the rights of students in New York City and Schenectady to a sound basic education and is currently pending in State Supreme Court in New York County.

The success of New York’s multi-faceted advocacy campaign underscores the efficacy of strategies documented in ELC’s publication From Courthouse to Statehouse and Back Again. After almost two decades of sustained effort, New York advocates succeeded in securing historic increases in state school funding that will have a significant impact on reducing longstanding disparities in resources and outcomes for students in districts segregated by race and poverty.

View funding increases for every New York school district here. 

 

Related Stories:

APPELLATE COURT: STATE VIOLATED EDUCATION RIGHTS OF STUDENTS IN NY’S SMALL CITY DISTRICTS

EDUCATION LAW CENTER JOINS MAJOR NEW YORK SCHOOL FUNDING CASE

 

Press Contact:

Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24

Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240