Enacted SFY 2025-26 Budget Includes $37.6 Billion in School Aid

Speaker Carl Heastie, Education Committee Chair Michael Benedetto and Libraries and Educational Technology Chair Robert Caroll today announced the Enacted State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025-26 Budget provides $37.6 billion in funding to the General Support for Public Schools (GSPS), a $1.7 billion increase from the 2024-25 school year (SY). 

“This enacted budget highlights the Assembly Majority’s commitment to providing our students all the resources they need to thrive in and out of the classroom,” said Speaker Heastie. “By securing additional funding and new policies to make our students and educators lives easier, we’re providing our schools the ability to foster a supportive and complete educational environment.”

“As a former educator, I understand the tools our teachers need to create a space for all children to grow,” said Assemblymember Benedetto. “By expanding coverage to universal school meals and restricting cell phone usage within the classroom, we’re providing our educators the resources they need to focus students on learning rather than external factors.”

“Libraries are among our most vital and democratic civic institutions and as Chair of the Committee on Libraries and Education Technology, I am especially proud of the critical funding we are providing for libraries in this budget,” said Assemblymember Carroll. “At a time when the federal government is cutting funds for libraries and cultural organizations, this support is all the more necessary so libraries can fulfill their mission as centers of learning and community engagement.”

The enacted budget includes $26.4 billion in funding for Foundation Aid, a $1.4 billion increase over SY 2024-25. There will also be changes to the Foundation Aid formula by:

• Increasing the English Language Learner factor increases from 0.5 to 0.53;
• Updating the Westchester Regional Cost from 1.314 to 1.351;
• Further changes to improve the State Sharing Ratio (SSR);
• Changing from the 2000 Census Poverty Data to Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) data;
• Changing from Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRPL) data to Economically Disadvantaged Data; and
• Providing a 2 percent minimum increase.

The enacted budget also includes:

• $59 million to expand Special Services Aid to include ninth grade students, and a commitment to increase the BOCES reimbursable teacher salary cap over the next four years;
• $21.4 million restoration for Teacher Resource and Computer Training Centers;
• $1.5 million additional funding for Schools for the Blind and Deaf, a total of $115 million, and a restoration of $4.4 million in funds for individual schools;
• $4 million in restored funding for nonpublic schools;
• $1.5 million restoration for the Consortium for Workers Education (CWE), for a total of $13 million; and
• $1 million restoration for Adult Career and Continuing Education Services (ACCES).

Universal School Lunch

The enacted budget also provides $340 million for expanded universal school meals, a $120 million expansion to ensure all children can thrive within the classroom without worrying where their next meal will come from.

Restricting Cell Phone Usage in School

The enacted budget includes a “bell to bell” restriction of smartphones or other internet-enabled personal devices in K-12 schools across the state. This total restriction ensures schools are distraction-free zones where students can focus on learning and socializing with their classmates during class, lunch and study periods.

To aid schools in developing their own plans, the enacted budget secured $13.5 million to support the purchase of storage devices.

My Brother’s Keeper

Since 2016, New York has secured almost $200 million for the My Brother’s Keeper initiative to provide professional, developmental and educational opportunities that seek to address issues related to restorative justice and racial disparities in education. The enacted budget provides $28 million to the program.

Libraries and Cultural Education

The enacted budget also makes critical investments in our libraries, increasing Library Operating Aid by $1.7 million for a total of $106 million. Additional investments include:

• $10 million in additional Library Capital, for a total of $44 million;
• $1.2 million restoration for Summer School for the Arts;
• $125,000 restoration for Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, for a total of $500,000;
• $110,000 restoration and increase for the Langston Hughes Community Library, for a total of $222,500; and
• $100,000 for the Brooklyn Public Library Center for Brooklyn History.