The 2008-09 Budget: Major Highlights

Education Initiatives

Click here for a copy of the School Aid Runs published by the State Education Department (PDF)

Investments

• Record Aid Increases. Provides a $1.46 billion (7.5 percent) increase for school aid – the largest ever increase proposed by a Governor. This brings the cumulative, two-year school aid increase under Governor Spitzer to $3.2 billion.
• Foundation Formula. Retains the key elements of the Foundation Formula created last year, to distribute funding based on objective measures of student need and district wealth, while making adjustments to further target aid to high needs districts.
• Contracts for Excellence. Requires that Contracts for Excellence accountability measures apply to districts’ annual school aid expenditures for at least three years once they have qualified for program. Districts that make adequate yearly progress in school improvement would no longer be subject to these requirements.
• Reforming High Tax Aid. Provides High Tax Aid and reforms the distribution formula to better target funding to individual municipalities where the property tax burden is greatest relative to income.
• Universal Prekindergarten. Increases funding for Universal Prekindergarten to a total of $452 million, providing funding for over 120,000 four-year-old children to receive these services, an increase of over 27,000.
• Healthy Schools. Increases reimbursement to schools for the expansion of access to healthy meals – particularly for low-income students — by $5 million ($9 million 2008-09 school year).
• Public Libraries. Includes $14 million in additional funding for the New York State Public Library Construction Grant Program. Funds will be provided to upgrade facilities and buildings at public libraries statewide.

Savings

• Foundation Aid. Provides a smaller year-to-year increase than originally anticipated under the Governor’s four-year plan. While the Budget still retains the Governor’s four-year $7 billion commitment to increased education funding, the Budget reduces the projected growth of Foundation Aid by $93 million by phasing in the program at a slower rate and reducing the minimum and maximum increase provided to districts. These reductions are offset by increases in other aid categories, such as expense based aids. The total Foundation Aid increases would be $899 million and the total 2008-09 school aid increase would be $1.46 billion.
• Preschool Special Education. Requires school districts to assume a portion of the costs associated with administering committees on preschool special education (CPSEs) and providing student evaluations. This action is consistent with the recommendations of the temporary Task Force on Preschool Special Education. The State’s commitment to preschool special education will continue to be $681 million.
• BOCES Reform. Alters BOCES Aid to distribute funding through that program in a more equitable manner consistent with the Foundation Aid formula. These actions will provide savings of $31 million, with overall BOCES funding totaling approximately $595 million.

Click here to see how much your school will receive in school aid.