Builds on $1.6 billion investment in fair student funding during de Blasio administration
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speaker Johnson and Schools Chancellor Porter today announced a historic investment to bring 100 percent “Fair Student Funding” (FSF) for all New York City public schools funded by FSF for the first time ever, starting in the 2021-22 school year.
"A recovery for all of us requires investing in all our children," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "Fair student funding means more money directly into classrooms serving our students. We know what this funding means: higher graduation rates, lower dropout rates and more students getting into college. I thank Speaker Heastie, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and the State Legislature for making this possible, and Speaker Johnson for his partnership."
"This is amazing news. The Council has advocated to fully fund our schools for years, including in this year’s budget response. One of our proudest achievements as a body was reaching a deal with the de Blasio administration increase Fair Student Funding by $125 million in Fiscal 2019. This announcement surpasses that historic win, and comes at a crucial time for our students and schools. Now more than ever, we must be laser-focused at ending inequities in our schools, and Fair Student Funding is one of the ways we reach that ambitious goal. I thank the de Blasio administration for working with us to get this done, as well as Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for their efforts to make this happen. Today is a great day!" said Speaker Corey Johnson.
“Achieving one hundred percent fair student funding is a historic and game-changing investment that will further equity across all of our schools and provide greater resources, such as staff, materials, supplies, and more,” said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter. “I’m so grateful to those who advocated tirelessly for this and as a former Principal, I know how critical this investment will be for our school leaders and their communities .”
This investment represents the administration’s commitment to bring all schools to 100 percent FSF once the State met their Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) funding mandate. For decades, the City was short changed over a billion dollars a year in State funding, but funds were included in the State’s recent enacted budget after years of advocacy the de Blasio Administration, the City Council, and in partnership with Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie and members of the State Legislature.
FSF is the primary source of funding for individual school budgets. It is driven by equity and specifically drives more resources to schools that serve students with higher needs, such as students requiring academic intervention, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners. Principals can use FSF at their discretion and it is mainly used to hire teachers and staff, as well as to purchase materials and educational resources to support school communities.
This builds on the administration’s unprecedented investments in education and will help ensure every single school has the resources needed to support their students and staff during these challenging times. The FSF “floor” has been continuously raised under this administration, with investments totaling $1.6 billion to raise the FSF floor from 81 percent in 2014 to now 100 percent for the first time ever. More than half of DOE schools have seen additional funding as a result of these investments.
With this new investment, the FSF formula will be fully funded, after years of partial funding for most schools. No school will receive less than the full amount they are entitled to under the FSF formula. At the beginning of the de Blasio administration, some schools received only 81 percent of the amount they were entitled to under the FSF formula. Under this administration, the floor had grown to 90%, with the average school receiving 93% of formula. This new investment impacts 1,164 schools and over 700,000 students in every borough and community school district.
The previous investments in FSF have supported New York City’s record-high graduation rates, record-low dropout rates, the rise of college enrollment and college readiness rates to all-time highs.
Fair Student Funding is a principal’s most flexible funding source and on average accounts for two-thirds of their total school budget. It is based on simple principles:
- Allocations to schools should fund students’ classroom instructional needs;
- Different students have different educational needs, and funding levels should address the cost of those needs as best as possible;
- School leaders are best positioned to decide how to improve achievement; and
- School budgets should be as transparent as possible so that funding decisions are visible for all to see and evaluate.
FSF specifically directs money to needier students. Our school allocation methodology is driven by equity, and the data shows that it’s been successful in advancing it. On average, schools with high concentrations of poverty receive over 20 percent more funding overall than schools with low concentrations of poverty.
“This is an historic day for New York City’s public schools and a tremendous win for students. We applaud the Mayor and Chancellor for finally fully funding our schools so that school leaders and their staff can deliver the high-quality education our students truly deserve. For years, our union has aggressively advocated for funding all schools at 100%, and we thank the City Council for partnering with us in that long, arduous, and persistent fight,” said CSA President Mark Cannizzaro.
