More NY school aid needed to address student poverty, special needs, health, advocates say

The clock is ticking louder for the Rockefeller Institute, which accepted the challenge of modernizing a formula used to distribute $25 billion in state dollars to New York's almost 700 school districts.

For three hours on Tuesday, dozens of New Yorkers — from school superintendents to parents — told Rockefeller officials that New York's "Foundation Aid" formula is out of date , inaccurate, and absolutely deficient at measuring the rising costs of students' post-pandemic needs.

They also demanded that the Rockefeller Institute fix it.

"Will there be the political will to make the changes we know need to be made?" asked Marian Bott, education finance specialist for the League of Women Voters of New York State, at the first of five public hearings the Rockefeller Institute is holding this summer.

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There is a lot at stake because of the sheer sum of money involved — representing 10.5% of the entire state budget. Additionally, the state's Foundation Aid is supposed to reduce the opportunity gap that separates students in affluent school districts from those whose communities can't raise as much in local property taxes.

The state budget set aside $2 million for the Rockefeller Institute, an Albany-based think tank that is part of SUNY, to come up with recommendations for Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature. But it only gave them until early December to figure things out — about 20 weeks from now — so that modifications could affect next year's budget.

Several educators said Tuesday that it's simply not enough time.

"Your challenge is not to listen to the noise but to come up with a better formula ... One competent recommendation for you could be 'We need more time,' " said Harrison Superintendent Lou Wool, the Lower Hudson Valley's senior schools chief.

Not surprisingly, nearly all speakers wanted more aid for more things, something Hochul may not want to hear.

Foundation Aid formula does not measure post-pandemic challenges

Representatives of Westchester school districts came out in force to the first hearing , at the High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan, as did officials and parents from New York City. Officials from New Rochelle, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytowns, Yonkers, Rye City, Ossining, and Mount Vernon were among those who addressed four representatives of the Rockefeller Commission, including its president, Robert Megna.

Most comments fell into two broad groups: familiar complaints that the formula does not even accurately measure basic things like a school district's poverty and regional costs; and more recent worries that Foundation Aid does not reflect the growing numbers of students with disabilities, English language needs, and — especially since the pandemic — mental health and other challenges.

"We, like many of our fellow school districts, are faced with the Herculean task of educating ever-changing students during ever-changing times," said New Rochelle Superintendent Corey Reynolds, also speaking on behalf of the state Association of Small City School Districts.

The plight of the Bedford school district shows how badly the Foundation Aid formula measures the actual financial need in school districts, Erica Pierce, a Westchester County legislator who represents Bedford, told the panel. While part of the district is home to a small number of wealthy people, Mount Kisco Elementary School serves an immigrant community; half of students are English language learners and 78% are economically disadvantaged.

But out of 46 districts in Westchester and Putnam, Pierce said, Bedford is 38th in Foundation Aid per pupil. If the formula measured median income instead of mean income, Pierce said, Bedford would move from the top 5 wealthiest districts in the region to nearly the bottom quarter.

Right now, she said, "our kids lose."

The Yonkers school district, New York's third largest with almost 23,000 students, winds up with a budget deficit every spring because of unreliable state aid, forcing the city to beg for more, John Liszewski, the city's commissioner of finance, told the panel. "Yonkers is situated in affluent Westchester County and borders N.Y.C., which means our property values are relatively high," he said. "That works against us in the Foundation Aid formula."

Seventy-seven percent of Yonkers students were classified as economically disadvantaged in 2022-23, but the city ranked 222nd statewide in Foundation Aid per student. The city has increased its contribution to the schools by $498 million over the last 13 years, increasing the burden on local taxpayers, Liszewski said.

"Our children deserve to have the same educational opportunities as every other child in the state," he said.

Tanesha Grant, a parent, grandmother and community organizer from New York City, noted that the Rockefeller Institute officials at the hearing were all white.

"This panel doesn’t reflect me at all," she said. "This has been one of the big problems in education ... Our students seem to never get what they need."

Numerous NY school costs should get state aid, speakers say

The main concerns voiced about the Foundation Aid formula were these:

• The formula calculates student poverty rates using data from the 2000 Census, a fact that was widely mocked.
• Poverty calculations should move beyond the number of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, an outdated measuring stick.
• The formula groups school districts into only nine regions across New York when calculating costs. Westchester is grouped with northern counties, instead of Long Island and New York City, artificially reducing its costs in the formula. Some called for the high-priced Lower Hudson Valley to be a new region.
• Growing numbers of students with disabilities have very different needs with different educational costs, which are not reflected in the formula, but need to be.
• The rising costs of educating immigrant students, migrant students and others with limited English proficiency are also not reflected, but need to be. These students "have varying degrees of educational attainment, including newly arrived pupils with no prior formal education," Tarrytowns Superintendent Ray Sanchez said.
• The formula should recognize students in temporary housing and foster care, several New York City educators and advocates said.

Additionally, Michael Rebell, a key figure in a lawsuit that produced the Foundation Aid formula in 2007, said the state has completely failed to calculate what it costs to give New York students a "sound, basic education," as required by the state Court of Appeals in 2003.

So Rebell said that the Center for Educational Equity at Columbia University's Teachers College, where he is executive director, will calculate the cost and develop its own new Foundation Aid formula for Albany's consideration.

Does fixing Foundation Aid mean spending more?

A question hanging over the entire process is whether calls to update and improve the Foundation Aid formula will necessitate more aid.

Nearly all speakers at the first hearing asked for additional Foundation Aid for new or changing school costs.

But Hochul, after supporting major increases in Foundation Aid for two years, sought to end the windfall in 2024-25. She proposed Foundation Aid cuts to half of New York's school districts — seeking to smash a rule that previously prevented any year-to-year cuts. The Legislature wouldn't have it, though, and no one took a cut in the final state budget.

In asking the Rockefeller Institute to review Foundation Aid, she asked them to consider affordability.

On Tuesday, only Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit watchdog group, suggested that aid to districts that "have enough money" would have to be reduced if aid to needy schools can be increased. He said districts should be eligible for Foundation Aid cuts and that New York's STAR program, which provides tax relief primarily to those in "wealthy regions," should be ended.

The Empire Center, a conservative think tank that has been a leading critic of overspending on education in New York, is preparing its testimony for the Rockefeller Institute. But Empire Center President and CEO Tim Hoefer told The Journal News/lohud that New York's approach to aid has pushed school spending to almost $30,000 per student while "outcomes have been middling, at best."

He said Foundation Aid increases are counted upon when teachers and others negotiate salary increases.

"If done properly, the study won’t make recommendations solely based on the wants of countless special interests, but will consider, for example, how the Foundation Aid formula can improve outcomes, best practices from other states, and work to solve difficult fundamental problems — like funding for special education services," Hoefer said in an email.

Legislative leaders may battle Hochul on any proposed changes that would result in aid cuts. Sen. Shelley Mayer, D-Yonkers, chair of the Senate education committee, told The Journal News/lohud she was not in favor of "any district losing what they get.

Upcoming hearings are scheduled in Buffalo, Long Island, Central New York and the Capital Region. The Rockefeller Institute is accepting written comments on their website.

Although there is no hearing in the Lower Hudson Valley, state Sen. Bill Weber said Thursday he will host a discussion and testimony session on July 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Rockland Community College's Cultural Arts Theater.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: More NY school aid needed to address student poverty, special needs, health, advocates say