NYC’s proposed billion-dollar budget increase ignores dropping enrollment and taxpayer burden

With federal pandemic relief funds set to expire, the New York City education establishment is scrambling to fill the gaps with billion-dollar increases to local and state aid.

“We inherited fiscal cliffs,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams explained in April. “We have to continue to fund these programs in a real way.”

NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks told the city council on Wednesday the city plans to spend an additional $500 million specifically to make up for expiring federal dollars.

The money will pay for “500 social workers and psychologists, community schools, arts programming, programming for at-risk adults and older youth, [Public Schools Athletic League], students in temporary housing coordinators, translation and interpretation services and bilingual education,” said Banks.

Nevertheless, the council still worried about finding funding for nursing staff, special education, and cafeteria menus.

Educators statewide made similar complaints about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal in January, claiming her billion-dollar increase amounted to “[budget] cuts.”

However, a breakdown from the Citizens Budget Commission – a nonpartisan, fiscal watchdog – suggests NYC public schools are very well funded when considering state and local sources. 

The commission’s analysis explains overall federal education funds for NYC are expected to shrink from $4.6 billion in FY 2024 to $2.2 billion in 2025.  

However, local funding is expected to increase by $2.1 billion (or 10.2%) and state funding by $200 million.  

The total projected fluctuations only amount to a 0.7% decrease from 2024 to 2025.  

Even with the loss of COVID stimulus aid, NYC’s education budget will have increased by a billion dollars every year between 2020 ($34.5 billion) and 2025 ($39.5 billion). 

These massive budget increases are despite the fact that actual enrollment has dropped sharply.  

The Commission estimates 100,000 fewer students will attend NYC public schools in 2025 than prior to the pandemic. 

But it’s not just The Big Apple spending big dollars.  

School districts statewide are planning on unprecedented spending increases during the 2024-25 school year, according to data from the New York State Education Department. 

The Empire Center for Public Policy reported the average district wants a 4.4% increase in per-pupil expenditure, which would bring the average total of per-pupil spending to $33,000 annually. 

Nearly 70% of districts are increasing spending beyond inflation rates, and almost half want to raise property taxes.  

“These data show that even with the deluge of state aid, some school districts would have pushed property taxes much higher if the property tax cap weren’t protecting families and businesses,” commented Empire research director Ken Girardin.