Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
A scene from the first day of school in September 2022.
The city’s education department insists the funding system is flexible, but the comptroller and education advocates worry some schools won’t get what they need if ‘massive numbers’ of new students enroll later in the year.
The Fair Student Funding Formula, used to distribute the majority of New York City’s education budget to each of its 1,600 public schools, has been criticized for failing to provide enough funds to students who need it most, including those in temporary housing and in the foster care system. A working group has until the end of October to recommend changes.
City Limits asked readers and members of the city’s education community to fill out a survey about the policy, which is set to expire at the end of June. We heard from nearly 90 respondents, including dozens of current and former parents, educators and advocates. Here’s what we found.
The city’s schools funding formula is expected to pass as it stands, despite some who have been pushing for changes for years—including members of a 2019 task force whose recommendations were never released by the city.
Los legisladores de Nueva York tienen hasta el 30 de junio para decidir si quieren extender el control de la alcaldía y, en caso de hacerlo, por cuánto tiempo. Si deciden no extender tendrán que pensar en un nuevo sistema, ya que pocos legisladores parecen estar interesados en volver a la estructura de los consejos escolares que existía antes de 2002.
New York legislators have until June 30 to decide if they want to extend mayoral control again, and if so, for how long. If they choose not to extend, they need to come up with a new system, since few legislators seem interested in reverting to the school board structure that was in place prior to 2002.
Youth and advocates are optimistic, saying Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget takes important steps to expand resources, but that more needs to be done to make up for years of ‘chronic underfunding’ across the system.
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