Under state law, a final budget agreement is due to be reached by the governor and state legislators by April 1.
State aid provides about 30% of school revenue in the Nassau-Suffolk region, with most of the remainder raised through local property taxes. School taxation accounts for more than 60% of homeowners' tax bills.
Hochul's budget makes no mention of the state's so-called "save harmless" formula, which guarantees districts will receive at least as much aid in the coming year as they did in the current year even if their enrollments decline. The governor had proposed last year that "save harmless" be eliminated — a recommendation that raised a political firestorm at the time.
Hochul’s latest school-funding plan follows four years of substantial increases. The most dramatic of those increases came in a record-breaking three-year package designed to settle a legal dispute with New York City.
Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, school aid statewide rose by nearly $8 billion or 30%, to a total of nearly $34 billion. In Nassau and Suffolk counties, aid increased by $1.6 billion, or nearly 50%, for a total of $4.8 billion.
For 2024-25, statewide aid grew by another $1.3 billion, or 3.82%, to a total of $35.3 billion. The Island’s share increased by $205.6 million, or 4.24%, to a total of $5 billion.
When asked about the effects of the extra funding, some school representatives said state aid increases had allowed schools to make improvements they otherwise could not have afforded. Upgrades in recent years have ranged from new school ventilation systems and security measures, to enhanced student services in the form of psychological counseling, after-school tutoring and summer recreation.
“Over the three years, it was a great help to school districts in building programs, there’s no denying that,” Ryan Ruf, a longtime school business official, said.
Ruf is an assistant superintendent for business in the Massapequa district and a former president of a Nassau County organization representing school business officials.
On the other hand, some school representatives observed that while infusions of state aid have resulted in some improvement, they have not eliminated inequalities among districts on the Island in terms of tax burdens and student achievement.
“That inequity persists,” B.A. Schoen, a regional expert on school funding from Baldwin, said.
Schoen is a board trustee for the Nassau BOCES and president of an advocacy group known as REFIT, which stands for Reform Educational Financing Inequalities Today.
Schoen called on the state to go further to amend its school aid formula to make it more favorable to low-income districts.
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