FULL WRITTEN TESTIMONY:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Foundation Aid Formula. As a parent of New York City schoolchildren, the Vice President of the Community Education Council for District 2, and the Project Director of Parent PowerED NY, I am deeply concerned about the current state of education funding in New York.   

We urgently need to use updated statistics in the Foundation Aid Formula to reflect the current demographics. However, the main problem in New York is that we are the #1 state in education funding, yet we are only achieving mediocre results for our students. A new report by the Empire Center shows that not only does New York spends more than the national average, it spends significantly more than similar states. For example, NY spends 36 percent more per student than neighboring Massachusetts ($29,873 versus $21,906, as of school year 2021-22). Yet the Bay State has recently posted the highest combined score in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), while New York came in below the national average.  

The National Center for Education Statistics database confirms that New York was the state with the highest total expenditures per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools in School Year 2020-2021. 

Clearly, lack of funds is not the problem afflicting New York public school system as we have the most expensive public school system in the nation. However, there needs to be a dramatic change in how we use these funds to educate New York children. To ensure that the Foundation Aid will benefit all New York students, it should be tied to reforms, including:   

• developing high-quality, content-rich standards and curriculum frameworks to educate students; 
• aligning teacher preparation and professional development programs with state standards and establish one set of criteria and methodology for granting state accreditation of teacher preparation programs; and 
• establishing firm and fair procedures for state intervention in underperforming schools and districts.   

Furthermore, the most significant reform would be to allow each New York family to choose the best education for their kids and have funding follow the student independent of what type of school. There are 33 states plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico that offer more school choices than New York, including 18 that offer Education Savings Accounts.

The growth in New York families choosing homeschooling and charter schools shows there is a huge demand for school choice in our state. In the past ten years, homeschool enrollment increased 178 percent in New York, making it the second state in the nation for homeschool growth. Charter school enrollment has risen 125 percent, while district public school enrollment has fallen 13 percent.

New York must trust families to make the best decisions for their kids and offer them options beyond their geographically assigned district school.