Education Department, State

Agency Web Site: http://www.nysed.gov/

Mission

The State Education Department (SED) is the administrative agency of the Board of Regents. The Department's primary mission is to raise the knowledge, skill, and opportunity level of all the people in New York.

Organization and Staffing

The Board of Regents oversees the State Education Department, which was originally established by the Legislature in 1784 and subsequently continued in the State Constitution. The Board of Regents is comprised of 17 members – one for each of the State’s 13 judicial districts and four statewide members – who are elected by a joint session of the Legislature for staggered 5-year terms. The Board elects its chair, who holds the title Chancellor, and appoints the Commissioner of Education as the chief administrative officer of the Department. The Department’s central operations are located in the Education Building in Albany. The Department also has regional service facilities at various locations throughout the State.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2019 Executive Budget recommends $35.7 billion for the State Education Department. The annual change in Aid to Localities reflects a transition from two-year School Aid appropriations to one-year appropriations. Change in support for capital and other operating programs reflect the phase-out of one-time capital investments in nonpublic school technology and safety and security projects, an increase in operating support for the Federal Child Nutrition Program, and a new Institutional Accreditation Office. The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 2,692 FTEs for the State Education Department, the same level as the prior year.

Major budget actions include:

• School Aid Increase: The FY 2019 Executive Budget provides an overall school aid increase of $769 million (3.0 percent). This includes a $338 million increase in Foundation Aid with a community schools set-aside increase of $50 million for the continued transformation of high-need schools into community hubs, $317 million in reimbursements for expense-based aids, a $15 million expansion of high-quality prekindergarten for three- and four-year-old children, a $10 million expansion of Empire State After School grants to high-need districts, an additional $9 million for early college high schools, and the State’s largest investment in computer science and engineering instruction, among other initiatives. In addition, the Budget advances legislation to require the State’s largest school districts to submit school-level funding plans to demonstrate how resources are allocated to individual schools.
• Community Schools: The Budget continues the Governor’s efforts to transform New York’s high-need schools into community schools. Last year’s Budget invested $150 million as a set-aside within Foundation Aid to support the Governor’s community schools efforts across the State. This year, the FY 2019 Budget increases the community schools set-aside amount by $50 million to a total of $200 million. This increased funding is targeted to districts with failing schools and/or districts experiencing significant growth in homeless pupils or English language learners. In addition, the Budget increases the minimum community schools funding amount from $10,000 to $75,000. This ensures all high-need districts across the State can apply community schools funds to a wide-range of activities, including hiring community school coordinators, providing before- and after-school mentoring services, offering summer learning activities, and providing health and dental care services.
• Prekindergarten for Three- and Four-Year-Old Students: The Budget includes an additional $15 million investment in prekindergarten to expand high-quality half-day and full-day prekindergarten instruction for 3,000 three- and four-year-old children in high-need school districts. Preference for these funds will be given to the few remaining high-need school districts currently without a prekindergarten program, and will focus on including students in integrated or community-based settings.
• Full-Day Kindergarten Conversion: To further incentivize the last few school districts in the State with half-day kindergarten programs to establish full-day kindergarten programs in the 2018-19 school year, the Budget advances legislation to provide additional Full-Day Kindergarten Conversion Aid. These additional funds will further support school districts transitioning to full-day programs, and will strengthen the quality of education for five-year-old children in the State.
• Empire State After School Program: The FY 2019 Budget provides $10 million to fund a second round of Empire State After School awards. These funds will provide an additional 6,250 students with public after school care in high-need communities across the State. Funding will be targeted to districts with high rates of childhood homelessness. In addition, to help deter potential gang activity or involvement, $2 million of these funds will be targeted to vulnerable and at-risk communities.
• Early College High Schools: The FY 2019 Executive Budget provides an additional $9 million to expand the State’s early college high school programs. These programs allow students to get a jump start on college by providing opportunities to earn college credit or an associate’s degree. New York currently has 60 early college high school programs serving thousands of students in every region of the State.
• Smart Start: The FY 2019 Budget creates the Smart Start program and provides $6 million to expand high-quality computer science and engineering education. Grants will support teachers with resources and professional development opportunities, and will further expose students to valuable curricula. Schools that receive an award will work with their Regional Economic Development Councils to tailor the program to the needs of regional businesses and emerging employment growth sectors.
• Ban Lunch Shaming: The Budget includes legislation to ban lunch shaming practices in all schools, including serving alternative lunches (e.g., a cold cheese sandwich) to students who cannot pay at the point of services. Instead, schools would be required to provide the student with a regular meal. In addition, all schools would be required to submit a plan that includes a notification process for a student's parents if their child's school meal account balance is low, communication procedures to support families' enrollment in free or reduced price meal programs for their children, and an explanation of the school's unpaid meal policies.
• Support Breakfast After the Bell: To improve access to breakfast for the State's poorest students, beginning with the 2018-19 school year, schools with more than 70 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch will be required to provide breakfast after the school day has begun. Examples of Breakfast After the Bell models include breakfast in the classroom, extended cafeteria hours, food kiosks and vending machines that dispense healthy breakfasts to students. To ease the transition, the State will provide $7 million in capital funds for equipment such as coolers and vending machines, and an additional $5 million in funding to support reimbursement to schools for anticipated increases in the number of meals served.
• Nonpublic Schools: Approximately 400,000 elementary and secondary students attend more than 1,600 non-public schools in New York State. The Executive Budget increases aid by 3 percent to $186 million to reimburse nonpublic schools’ costs for State-mandated activities. The Budget also continues the two-year $60 million appropriation, first enacted in FY 2017, to accelerate reimbursement for the Comprehensive Attendance Policy (CAP) program. In addition, the Budget continues a $5 million reimbursement program for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) instruction.
• Summer School Special Education Programs: The Executive Budget proposes to more closely align State reimbursement to school districts for summer school special education tuition costs with the wealth-equalized aid ratio used to reimburse school districts for similar programs operated during the school year. This change would conform reimbursement for summer school special education tuition costs with the more equitable wealth adjusted financing structure of the State’s School Aid funding system. Summer school special education transportation and maintenance costs will continue to be funded by the State at current rates.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Education and Arts (PDF)

Program Highlights

Under the policy direction of the Board of Regents, operational responsibilities of the State Education Department include administration, regulation and review of numerous education programs. The following provides a description of the major program areas administered by the Department:

School Aid

School Aid helps support elementary and secondary education for New York pupils enrolled in the 674 major school districts throughout the State. State funding is provided to districts based on statutory aid formulas and through reimbursement of categorical expenses such as prekindergarten programs, education of homeless children, and bilingual education. State funding for schools assists districts in meeting locally defined needs, supports the construction of school facilities, and finances school transportation for nearly three million students statewide.

New York State Prekindergarten

Under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, the State has more than doubled its annual commitment to prekindergarten from $385 million to over $800 million. This year, over 126,000 students will be enrolled in the State’s publicly-funded prekindergarten programs—75 percent of whom will be served in full-day spots. In addition, the State also provides funding to support the implementation of QUALITYstarsNY—a tiered quality rating and improvement system for early childhood programs across the State—which seeks to improve the quality of early learning childcare facilities by assessing programs and providing continuous support for early childhood professionals. This additional support helps monitor the rigor and quality of the State’s prekindergarten portfolio and helps ensure all children are enrolled in high quality programs.

Smart Schools Bond Act

In November 2014, the Smart Schools Bond Act Referendum, proposed by Governor Cuomo, was approved by voters. The Smart Schools Bond Act provides $2 billion in funding for districts to reimagine the State’s classrooms and provide New York’s students with the technological resources, skills, and learning environments necessary to succeed in the 21st century. Funding supports enhanced education technologies, including infrastructure improvements, high‐speed broadband internet access, and active learning technologies. Additionally, the Smart Schools Bond Act supports the State’s long‐term investments in full-day prekindergarten through the construction of new prekindergarten classrooms, the replacement of classroom trailers with permanent classroom spaces, and high‐tech school safety programs. To date, over 425 Smart Schools Investment Plans totaling almost $400 million have been approved by the Smart Schools Review Board.

Programs for Students with Disabilities

The State provides a full range of special education services to approximately 500,000 students with disabilities, from ages 3 to 21. Eighty-five percent of these students are school-age students, and the remaining 15 percent are preschool children. Approximately 405,000 school-age students with disabilities are served by public school districts; while roughly 15,000 students require specialized educational settings in private education schools, State Supported Schools for the Blind and Deaf, Special Act School Districts, or one of the State-Operated Schools at Rome and Batavia. Preschool special education services, for children ages 3 to 5, are delivered primarily by private providers; however some school districts and BOCES provide these services as well.

Cultural Education

Cultural Education programs administered by the State Education Department include support for public broadcasting stations and aid to public libraries and library systems. SED also administers the State's major cultural institutions located in the Cultural Education Center in Albany, including the State Archives, the State Library and the State Museum. These institutions are responsible for increasing the knowledge and information resources of State and local government, businesses, and individuals.

Higher Education and Regulation of the Professions

Higher and professional education programs oversee the quality and availability of post-secondary education programs, and license and regulate over 50 professions. The Office of Higher Education oversees colleges, universities and proprietary schools; is responsible for the certification of teachers and other school professionals; and oversees programs to improve teacher preparation and recruitment. The Office of Professions oversees the preparation, licensure, practice and discipline of more than 50 professions regulated pursuant to Title VIII of the Education Law, including Nursing, Dentistry, Public Accountancy and Engineering.

Adult Career and Continuing Education Services

The Office for Adult Career and Continuing Education Services (ACCES) focuses on the education and employment needs of New York State’s adult population by offering a full range of employment and independent living services to persons with disabilities; overseeing the development of adult education programs that support adult literacy, English language instruction, high school equivalency test preparation and other services; and licensing and regulating the non-degree granting proprietary schools in New York State.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/16/2018