New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there’s a need to tackle funding inequities in poorer school districts in his State of the State Address earlier this month, and Syracuse City School District administrators said they agree: The local district needs more help.

SCSD has received significant state funding in the past several years and $13 million has been set aside from funds for SCSD in the state’s executive budget for Fiscal Year 2019.

The amount of foundational aid a district receives from New York is determined by the state aid formula, a determination of what funding the state should be providing to a district. A percentage of that number is taken based off what the state is able to afford.

There is still a $35 to $40 million gap between what the district needs and what the state can afford for SCSD, though, said Kate Skahen, the district’s comptroller.

“I think collectively the state could do a better job,” said Linda Mulvey, the district’s chief academic officer. “It’s difficult to prioritize in an urban district because you’re talking about life differences and level of need.”

The state aid formula does not take into account the amount of low-performing schools in a district or the concentration of need in urban areas, Mulvey said.

“The most important thing the state could do is recognize the increased need in urban districts,” Mulvey said.

The concentration of poverty is the most critical factor shaping the educational environment in Syracuse, Mulvey said.

About 80 percent of the city’s annual operating budget comes from the state in the form of foundation aid, Skahen said.

One of the district’s primary focus areas for applying for new funds is building out early childhood literacy programs. Early childhood literacy coaches have been hired to assist teachers with applicable skills.

The addition of staff positions is the primary expenditure, Skahen said.

“So, for us the challenge is every year we don’t know what state funding is going to be, and because so much of our budget depends on state funding, we can’t plan to expand programs, we can’t plan to necessarily maintain things at the same level because just doing that costs money,” Mulvey said.

The school district, though, still faces rising costs of accommodating its needs, officials said.

“A big expenditure for urban schools has become student support services. We have a lot of high-need families that have barriers to accessing education and need things like acceptable mental health services and other supports,” Mulvey said.

Cuomo has addressed the funding inequities impacting school districts across the state, Skahen said, and she remains optimistic for the SCSD.

“As one of the poorest districts in the state, we’re certainly hopeful that the governor will recognize the challenges we face here and allocate funding accordingly,” Skahen said.

Published on January 28, 2018 at 11:10 pm

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