When it comes to education funding, equality is not equity. The cost of educating students with higher needs (like those in poverty, with a disability, or multilanguage learners) is significantly greater. New York’s Foundation Aid school funding formula does not do enough to address these additional costs, resulting in district-level inequities and poorer educational outcomes.  

Explore the map below to learn more about Foundation Aid and school funding in your district.

The Foundation Aid Formula 

After years of advocacy and a lawsuit brought by parents who were frustrated by the chronic underfunding of schools, New York State developed the Foundation Aid formula in 2007 to create equitable school funding across districts. The formula is designed to be progressive, factoring in community wealth and student need in order to direct the greatest State funding to districts with the fewest resources and the highest needs. 

Foundation Aid is the largest source of state funding for K-12 education in New York. Though the Foundation Aid formula was created in 2007, it was not fully funded until the 2023-2024 school year. Full funding was a major victory for high needs school districts, particularly those serving a majority of Black and brown students. However, the formula has become greatly outdated (e.g. still using 2000 census data on poverty) and could be improved with better measures of student need. With persistent disparities in student outcomes between school districts, New York must take steps to improve the formula to ensure all students have access to a quality education, regardless of their zip code. 

Reforms to the Foundation Aid Formula 

There are several outdated and inadequate components of the Foundation Aid formula which have prevented New York from achieving true equity between districts. To better understand these flaws and potential solutions, The Rockefeller Institute of Government conducted a comprehensive study of New York’s current school funding formula. Following months of research and conversations with families, school district leaders, and education advocates around the state, the Institute released a report in early December with their recommendations. While the report includes several proposals on how the State can more equitably distribute school funding, it fails to include any new additions to the formula itself. Without structural changes to how funding needs are identified, districts with higher levels of student need will continue to fall behind.  

To truly reform the Foundation Aid formula, The Children’s Agenda recommends New York State:  

• Revisit the Base Amount Methodology – The cost of funding a successful district looks different in a small rural community, compared to a thriving suburb, or high needs urban environment. New York should explore alternative methodologies to the Successful School District model to better reflect geographic differences and changes in state standards and assessments. 
• Expand & Increase Weights for Student Needs – The Foundation Aid formula provides a single weight for multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and those living in poverty, ignoring the diverse needs of these vulnerable subgroups. Instead, the formula should include differentiated rates based on the intensity of student need. Weights should also be added to better support students with interrupted formal education (SIFE), those without permanent housing (McKinney-Vento), and those in foster care, as well as districts with high concentrations of poverty. 
• Regularly Update Poverty Data & Consider Alternatives – The existing formula allocates funding based on outdated poverty rates from the 2000 Census and Free & Reduced Lunch counts. As New York adopts a universal free school meals model, the formula must use alternative poverty measures such as student enrollment in means-tested programs like Medicaid. Poverty data should also be regularly updated. 
• Address Early Childhood Funding – Currently, pre-kindergarten programs in New York are funded through various state and federal grants. This approach is complicated to administer and creates uncertainty for school districts. Instead, the funding structure for pre-kindergarten must be incorporated into the Foundation Aid formula. This integration would better ensure program stability and high quality early education for students. 
• Revise the Regional Cost Index – Data on labor market costs has not been updated in the formula since 2006 and is not reflective of the current real-world salary and service costs, particularly in high-priced areas such as New York City. 

Explore Foundation Aid by School District

To view and download our Foundation Aid Formula fact sheet, please click here: Prioritizing Equity in New York’s School Funding: The Foundation Aid Formula – The Children’s Agenda 

Shannon Mullin is a Senior Policy Analyst with The Children’s Agenda.