Education Finance Leaders Recommend Balanced Approach in School Aid Proposal

ALBANY, NY (01/07/2019) (readMedia)-- ASBO New York, representing over 2,400 school business officials and staff from around the state, released its 2019-20 School Aid Proposal today. The School Aid Proposal calls for a $2.1 billion increase in school aid and a 3-year phase-in of the $4.1 billion in Foundation Aid still owed to school districts.

"Our proposal offers a balanced approach to meeting student needs and reflects the unique perspective of school business officials who, as education CFO's, utilize their financial acumen to effectively allocate resources to achieve educational goals. ASBO's proposal not only requests additional funding, but also recommends using that funding more strategically and effectively by encouraging flexibility and sharing that redirects more funds to the classroom," stated Michael J. Borges, ASBO New York Executive Director.

ASBO New York will advance state aid recommendations in four categories:

• Improve equity and adequacy for school districts by fully phasing in Foundation Aid over three years and making other strategic investments aimed at improving access to educational opportunity. These include increasing support for career and technical education, early learning, giving school districts and BOCES the authority to implement regional high schools and providing equity in the calculation of the debt limit for small city school districts so that these districts can better maintain their school facilities.

• Strengthen student safety and wellness with a new categorical aid program to support the non-capital needs of all school districts to provide community school programs, support school resource officers, and other initiatives to strengthen student safety and meet the social and emotional needs of students. The Community Schools Set aside within Foundation Aid should be folded into this separate categorical aid program, leaving Foundation Aid as unrestricted general purpose operating aid.

• Provide stability by paying for already approved expenses. Maintain support for expense based aids and pay off prior year adjustments.

• Redirect savings to teaching and learning through incentives for shared transportation, staggered building condition surveys, streamlining internal audits, excluding local BOCES capital expenditures from the Tax Cap, a TRS reserve, and funds to support grants for strategic resource use. Additional flexibility will help school districts do their primary job-educate students.

"ASBO New York's aid proposals recommend more funding in critical areas and better use of funds by school officials to stretch the dollar further," said Executive Director Michael J. Borges. "These recommendations collectively aim to educate students in our schools today for jobs and civic responsibilities they will face tomorrow," he concluded.