The New York State legislature passed the budget bills this week. The bills are now on the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.  We have reviewed the budget bills. Below please find highlights from the New York State FY 2022 Budget that are important to the charter school community. All Funds Spending: Total spending for the FY 2022 Budget is $212 billion — up 9.7% or $193.3 billion from FY 2021. Federal funds make up a significant share of the increase.

Charter Tuition: The FY 2022 Budget does not change the tuition formula previously enacted for the 2021-22 school year. This is the first time in years that the charter tuition formula will be implemented as scheduled, tuition will increase across the state. We have updated the tuition calculator on our website so you can calculate tuition for the 2021-22 school year.

Supplemental basic charter tuition for New York City DOE is reduced by $35 million to be made up by a 2021 American Rescue Plan grant. Likewise, New York City School Aid for Students with Disabilities is reduced by $35 million to be made up by a 2021 American Rescue Plan grant. This funding is for NYC DOE, not for charter student tuition.

$29.5 Billion in School Aid: The FY 2022 Budget provides $29.5 billion in State school aid funding to districts, an increase of $3.0 billion (11.3 percent) compared to the 2020-21 school year.

Foundation Aid: The FY 2022 Budget includes a $1.4 billion increase in Foundation for the 2021-22 school year and provides a commitment to phase in full Foundation Aid funding by 2023-2024. Approximately 75 percent of the Foundation Aid increase is targeted to high-need school districts.

$13 Billion in Federal Aid to Public Schools: The FY 2022 Budget programs $13 billion of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds to public schools. This funding, available for use over multiple years, will help schools safely reopen for in-person instruction, address learning loss, and respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs due to the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • The Budget allocates $629 million of these funds to school districts as targeted grants to support efforts to address learning loss through activities such as summer enrichment and comprehensive after-school programs.
  • In addition, the Budget directs $105 million of federal funds to expand access to full-day prekindergarten programs for four-year-old children in school districts statewide in the 2021-22 school year.

As a reminder, NYCSA will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday, April 27th, on federal funding for charters. Check your inbox for more information soon.

Pre-K: The FY 2022 Budget includes a multi-year investment in prekindergarten, including $105 million for this year.

Re-issuance of Charters: Governor Cuomo’s proposal to re-issue charters was not included in the Budget.

Education Materials for Students with Disabilities: A new provision is included in the FY 2022 Budget to require the Education Commissioner to provide educational materials to all NYS schools for students with disabilities.

Facilities Aid: The Governor’s proposal to eliminate New York City rental assistance reimbursement was not included in the budget. Facility aid for upstate charter schools also was not included.

Also of interest:

Affordable Internet for Low-Income Families: The FY 2022 Budget includes legislation requiring internet service providers to offer an affordable $15 per month high-speed internet plan to qualifying low-income households. The State will also require providers to advertise this plan to ensure programs reach underserved populations across the State. To further bridge the gap, the State has partnered with Schmidt Futures and the Ford Foundation to launch ConnectED NY, an emergency fund to provide approximately 50,000 students in economically disadvantaged school districts with free internet access through June 2022.

Mobile Sports Wagering: The FY 2022 Budget authorizes mobile sports wagering. Once fully phased in, legalization will provide more than $500 million in revenue for the State to help rebuild from COVID-19 and grow what could be the largest sports wagering market in the U.S. Once fully phased in, the program will provide $5 million annually to youth sports, and $6 million to combat problem gambling, doubling the resources currently available. The remainder of this new revenue will be dedicated to education.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated as we find new and important budget provisions.  The legislative session will continue through June, which means our advocacy will continue too. We will keep up the fight for access to great schools!