New York state schools can breathe a sigh of relief as Gov. Kathy Hochul has largely backed away, at least this year, from a controversial proposal to change how the state decides how much funding school districts receive. may be possible.
Hochul told reporters Thursday during a surprise visit to the Capitol press room that he and legislative leaders are likely to agree to postpone more significant changes to the school aid funding formula until next year. he suggested.
After regaling reporters by handing out solar eclipse glasses and cookies, Hochul said, “By this time next year, we’re going to create a process to inform and alert everyone that we want there to be a different formula.” “We talked about fixing it,” he said. .
Hochul said the details of the formulation change still need to be worked out.
“What I have decided is [legislative] Tell the leaders how that mechanism works,” she said.
The governor’s comments represent a development in one of the most heated debates that must be resolved between the governor and legislative leaders before a final agreement can be reached on the state’s big spending package.
One of her most controversial proposals concerns removing an aspect of the funding formula called “hold harmless.” This provision provides that school districts cannot receive reductions in state aid from year to year. Eliminating this system would mean nearly half of New York’s school districts would lose state funding.
Hochul also proposed changing the weighting of inflation in the formula.
The governor argues that while on his watch the state has significantly increased school funding to levels established in a landmark court ruling, such spending is unsustainable in the long term. ing.
“This is overdue,” Hochul said.
Democrats and Republicans initially reacted with fury to the governor’s proposal, but lawmakers are starting to think about tackling the funding formula.
The state Senate included a measure in its budget bill to conduct an investigation into the changes to the formula. But lawmakers are divided on whether such reports should be done by the state Department of Education or another agency.
