ALBANY—Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to break a self-imposed cap on education spending for the second year in a row.

Cuomo said at a cabinet meeting last Monday that while he is planning for tax cuts, priority areas like education “will go up close to five percent” in next fiscal year’s budget, “like they did” for the current fiscal year.

Under a cap he enacted in 2011, spending should only grow 3.4 percent.

“The cap is not real. I don’t think the cap is ever going to be real again,” said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank. “I don’t think it ever was binding. I think it was a convenient pretext in the governor’s first couple of years and increasingly is going to be disregarded.” 

In 2011, Cuomo decided to cap growth in education spending at the rate of New Yorkers’ personal income growth, and he cut state aid accordingly for the 2011-12 school year by $1.3 billion. In 2012-13, personal income grew about four percent, and Cuomo and the Legislature awarded an $800 million increase, the maximum allowed under the cap.

But for this fiscal year, Cuomo’s proposal provided about a three percent aid increase, consistent with the cap, plus an additional $200 million, which he called one-time “fiscal stabilization funds.” He also launched a $75 million competitive-grant program to fund a series of initiatives, including pre-kindergarten. Lawmakers then added another $180 million. The total increase was more than $1 billion, about 5.3 percent.

Total state aid to schools is now about $21 billion.

Cuomo’s mid-year financial plan, released last month, includes a scheduled 3.4 percent increase for schools next fiscal year, or about $722 million. The state also plans to offer another $75 million for the competitive grants. But state education officials and school group leaders expect more when Cuomo releases his executive budget next month.

A Cuomo spokesman said that before the cap, there were built-in 13 percent increases in the education budget, and the governor has been successful in holding down spending during his tenure.

Last week, the state Board of Regents presented its budget request for $1.3 billion in additional funds. The board came to the $1 billion number by applying last year’s roughly 5 percent increase to updated numbers. The $300 million is an additional request to fund pre-K, professional development for teachers struggling with the Common Core and curriculum materials aligned to the standards.

“I understand that there is a cap in the law,” James Tallon, a Regent who chairs the state aid committee, said after presenting the budget ask last Monday. “We just want to use an approximation of what their judgment was last year, and I thought that was a fair way to get to the number.”

Sen. John Flanagan, a Long Island Republican who chairs that chamber’s education committee, said it is his “expectation” that Cuomo will propose allocating money to schools above the cap next year.

“That wouldn’t surprise me, and I think it is a positive step,” Flanagan said.

“I was gratified, and I think many were, that the governor initially pierced the cap last year, and, of course, we added to that,” the senator continued. “There was a unity of interest, and I think there is now.”

The state’s largest teachers union and advocacy groups said just going over the cap won’t be enough to help schools meet their financial obligations. Schools have struggled in recent years with a property-tax cap that limits their ability to raise local revenue, and they’re operating under soaring pension and health-care costs.

Alliance for Quality Education, a labor-backed advocacy group that pushes for equitable school funding, is leading a campaign for a $1.9 billion increase in the budget.

“Breaking the cap is not good enough,” Easton said. “Students need a major breakthrough to finally end educational inequality. To prevent more classroom cuts and restore programs that have already been cut will take a lot more than five percent.”

McMahon said by predicting a “close to 5 percent” increase during the cabinet meeting, Cuomo opens himself up to a much higher boost. Lawmakers typically add more money to the education budget.

“He is essentially conceding the level of increase that would normally result from an opening bid of 3.5 [percent],” McMahon said. “If he said close to five [percent], it isn’t going to be five, it’s going to be more than that. The question is where is this money coming from.”

©2013, Capital New York