NYS budget includes $39B for schools statewide

ALBANY — New York’s 2026-27 budget will send $39 billion to schools statewide, require prekindergarten programs for all 4-year-olds and delay the state’s zero-emission school bus mandate by five years, according to legislation released Wednesday.

Lawmakers began voting on the roughly $268 billion budget Wednesday, approving the education spending bill.

Some of the highlights include:

• A $200 million increase in what’s known as Foundation Aid, guaranteeing all districts will see at least a 2% funding boost.
• Mandatory full-day prekindergarten by 2028-29 for all eligible primarily 4-year-olds whose parents apply.
• Allowing districts to continue to purchase fossil fuel-powered buses through 2032 but require schools to fully transition to zero-emission buses by 2040.
• Boosting math instruction for kindergarten through fifth grade through guidance and increased professional learning opportunities for teachers.
• Freezing tuition for in-state, undergraduate students attending the state's public colleges and universities.
• Expanding what’s known as the Opportunity Promise Scholarship, which waves tuition for state residents aged 25 to 55 attending public colleges and universities to pursue a first-time associate degree in high-demand occupations including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, nursing, green and renewable energy and then teaching in shortage areas.

The legislation kicks off the final leg of the budget process after seven weeks of delays.

It comes 13 days after Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, announced a "general agreement" on the state budget, which was due April 1. The governor’s seat and all 213 legislative seats are up for election in November, increasing political pressure to deliver for constituents.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the remaining eight budget bills as they’re released this week and next. The longer the budget process goes, the less time the Senate and Assembly will have to pass other legislation before the last scheduled day of the legislative session on June 4.

"We are feverishly working on the financial plan now," Assemb. J. Gary Pretlow (D-Mount Vernon), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said Wednesday.

The budget legislation released Wednesday includes $27.4 billion for Foundation Aid, a complex funding formula and the single largest source of financial support for public schools in the state.

The budget tweaks the formula to increase aid for students who typically need additional support services including English language learners, students experiencing homelessness and those in foster care.

It also includes at least $10,000 per pupil for districts to expand current prekindergarten programs or start new ones.

“In all my years in the Assembly, I have never seen such a dysfunctional budget process,” Assemb. Phil Palmesano (R-Corning), the ranking Republican member of the Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement. “The worst of all of this is that school districts had their budget votes last night, without knowing how much aid they would be receiving from the state. This was a complete dereliction of duty.”

Newsday's Yancey Roy contributed to this story.