Increases foundation aid for school districts that meet five variables impacting academic success: free or reduced lunch, English language learners, wealth ratio, enrollment, special education, and being located in a high wealth ratio county.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2545
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SAYEGH, FORREST, SIMON, ZINERMAN, COOK, BRABENEC,
GIGLIO, LEMONDES, CRUZ, SHIMSKY, BROOK-KRASNY -- Multi-Sponsored by --
M. of A. LEVENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to increasing foundation
aid to school districts located in a high wealth ratio county that
meet five variables impacting academic success: free or reduced lunch,
English language learners, wealth ratio, enrollment, and special
education
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "school aid
2 equity act".
3 § 2. Section 3602 of the education law is amended by adding a new
4 subdivision 42 to read as follows:
5 42. Foundation aid to address school district funding inequity.
6 Commencing with aid payable in the two thousand twenty-six--two thousand
7 twenty-seven school year, the commissioner shall increase the amount of
8 foundation aid, at a rate determined by the commissioner, for school
9 districts that all of the following conditions and criteria apply:
10 a. a three-year average free and reduced price lunch percent greater
11 than two-thirds or sixty-seven percent (0.67);
12 b. an English language learner count that totals above thirteen
13 percent (0.13) of the entire school district population;
14 c. a combined wealth ratio greater than seven-tenths percent (0.7);
15 d. an increase in enrollment of at least two percent (0.02) since the
16 two thousand fifteen--two thousand sixteen school year; and
17 e. a special education count that totals above eight percent (0.08) of
18 the entire school district population.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04263-01-5
A. 2545 2
1 Nothing in this subdivision shall reduce the amount of foundation aid
2 to any school district in which this subdivision's conditions and crite-
3 ria do not apply.
4 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
