FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 4, 2016

Speaker Heastie and Education Chair Nolan Announce
Details of Education Funding in SFY 2016-17 Budget


Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Education Committee Chair Catherine Nolan today announced that the approved SFY 2016-17 Budget will include $24.7 billion in funding to General Support for Public Schools (GSPS), an increase of $1.4 billion, or 5.9 percent, over the 2015-16 School Year (SY).

"This budget reflects our commitment to ensuring that New York's children have access to the highest quality education from the very beginning of their schooling," said Heastie. "By making sure that our schools have all of the resources they need to provide that standard of education, we are securing the best possible future for our state."

"Our budget keeps our promise to New York to address the educational challenges that face every part of state," said Nolan. "We fought hard to ensure that New York's neediest schools have the funding they need to provide all New York's youth with consistent, high quality education."

The spending plan allocates $627 million in Foundation Aid with $100 million of that investment earmarked for Community Schools. For those Community Schools in school districts with struggling or persistently struggling schools an additional $75 million is provided. The enacted budget also fully restored the Gap Elimination Adjustment by providing $434 million in funding for SFY 2016-17. In keeping with the Assembly's committment to promote the achievement of all students, the enacted budget earmarks $20 million for the My Brother's Keeper Initiative to implement the Board of Regents recommendations to improve outcomes for boys and young men of color.

The approved spending plan also includes funding for the following programs: