Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Education Committee Chair Catherine Nolan today announced that the approved SFY 2016-17 Budget will include $24.7 billion in funding to General Support for Public Schools (GSPS), an increase of $1.4 billion, or 5.9 percent, over the 2015-16 School Year (SY).

"This budget reflects our commitment to ensuring that New York's children have access to the highest quality education from the very beginning of their schooling," said Heastie. "By making sure that our schools have all of the resources they need to provide that standard of education, we are securing the best possible future for our state."

"Our budget keeps our promise to New York to address the educational challenges that face every part of state," said Nolan. "We fought hard to ensure that New York's neediest schools have the funding they need to provide all New York's youth with consistent, high quality education."

The spending plan allocates $627 million in Foundation Aid with $100 million of that investment earmarked for Community Schools. For those Community Schools in school districts with struggling or persistently struggling schools an additional $75 million is provided. The enacted budget also fully restored the Gap Elimination Adjustment by providing $434 million in funding for SFY 2016-17. In keeping with the Assembly's committment to promote the achievement of all students, the enacted budget earmarks $20 million for the My Brother's Keeper Initiative to implement the Board of Regents recommendations to improve outcomes for boys and young men of color.

The approved spending plan also includes funding for the following programs:

• $70 million for nonpublic schools over two years, starting in SFY 2017-18;
• $2.4 million to restore funding for school health services for the Rochester and Buffalo City School Districts;
• $2.3 million increase for 4201 Schools for the Blind and Deaf, for a total of $101 million;
• $2 million in assistance for economically disadvantaged middle school students preparing for the Specialized High School Admissions Test;
• $1.5 million restoration for the Consortium for Worker Education;
• $1 million in additional funding for the Bilingual Education Services, for a total of $15.5 million;
• $1 million in additional Adult Literacy Education funding, for a total of $7.29 million for the 2016-17 SY;
• $903,000 to restore funding for the New York School for the Deaf;
• $903,000 to restore funding for the Henry Viscardi School; and
• $500,000 to restore funding for the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at SUNY Albany.