In 2025, New York State must:
Revise the Foundation Aid formula to meet ALL students’ needs and allow for improvement, while fully funding it.
The Foundation Aid Formula needs to be updated as advocates and the Rockefeller Institute report identified. Rockefeller did a series of hearings and engaged administrators, teachers, community members and parents, as well as some youth across the state. The charge that Rockefeller was given by the governor was to engage with the public and experts within 8 months in order to propose changes to the Foundation Aid formula that would be “fiscally sustainable,” ignoring any condition and need for improvement that would require additional funding. The Foundation Aid formula uses 20-year-old data, a low per-student amount on which additional funding is added depending on the particular characteristics of the student, and it does not consider the wide range of special education students’ need or the fact that more children are now experiencing housing insecurity. The report addressed each component of the formula separately, providing a menu of options for the governor and legislature to choose from. Any changes to the formula need to ensure that no district is adversely impacted by loss of funding. Changes to the formula must also take into account how each component affects the final output of funding. AQE is in full support of the recommendations that the Board of Regents made in their State Aid proposal for 2025-26.
Revising the formula and ensuring adequate funding is crucial for FY 26.
Cost: Expected increase for FY26 under current law $1.6 billion
End Jim Crow Education in East Ramapo
The state budget should incorporate the reforms contained in A10407 to empower public school families, fix crumbling infrastructure, hire bilingual educators, ensure access to quality classroom instruction and materials, and end the systemic racism that defines school governance and finance.
Solutions Not Suspensions Bill (A118/S134)
Requires schools to use proven alternatives to suspension that correct misbehavior and keep kids in the classroom. The state budget should invest at least $5 million in training for educators and school personnel, and ensure that there is full Foundation Aid funding to address all the needs of all students.
View our other 2025 priority campaigns.
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