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2016 Senate Budget Proposal Summary State Aid The Senate proposes an increase in school aid over 2015-16 without complete a breakdown by aid category. The increase does include elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment ($434 million) and full-funding of expense-based aids ($341 million). Media reports suggest the overall aid increase is more than $1.6 billion over the previous school year, with $880 million of that amount being allocated towards an increase in Foundation Aid. In addition, the Senate proposal creates a new Tuition Stabilization Aid category in support of school districts that educate non-resident students from areas of the state without their own secondary schools, repeals the building aid recalculation provision, eliminates Contracts for Excellence for all districts except New York City and establishes a new building aid forgiveness period for the late filing of final cost reports. Education Tax Credit The Senate amends the Executive education tax credit proposal (the Parental Choice in Education Act), replacing it with the version the Senate passed as a standalone bill in January. The proposal would phase-up to $300 million per year in state general fund dollars to cover tax credits for donors who contribute to educational scholarship organizations and other local education funds. Such contributions would benefit private schools and some public schools. The proposal would also benefit charter schools. Donors would be eligible for a credit equal to 90% of their contribution, up to $1 million. The proposal also includes $200 tax credits for the purchase of instructional materials and supplies that are used at home and in the classroom. Community Schools The Senate proposal rejects the Executive proposal to establish community schools aid. Charter Schools The Senate proposal modifies and expands upon the Executive proposals for charter schools. This proposal would: ● Expand facilities aid eligibility and increase charter school tuition rates in NYC and establish building aid for charter schools statewide.
● Maintain $500 per student supplemental basic tuition payments to charter schools, while eliminating the state reimbursement, shifting additional cost to districts. ● Allow charter schools to change authorizers. ● Authorize charter schools to participate in full-day UPK without signing a contract with the collaborating district. The Senate also provides over $27 million in direct support to charter schools, the same amount that the Executive proposed. Prekindergarten The Senate proposal rejects the Executive prekindergarten proposals, including the creation of the Empire State prekindergarten board and required participation in QUALITYstarsNY as a condition of receiving state dollars. Career and Technical Education The Senate proposal would increase the salary cap for BOCES career and technical education teachers. This increase would be phased in over 5 years. Increases would be $34,000 for the 2016-17 school year, $38,000 in the 2017-18 school year, $42,000 in the 2018-19 school year, $46,000 in the 2019-20 school year and $50,000 in the 2020-21 school year. Transportation The Senate proposal establishes a period of transportation forgiveness for school districts who have not had their contracts approved in a timely manner to receive aid. In addition, this proposal links transportation contract extensions to the employment cost index (ECI) as opposed to the consumer price index (CPI) and makes certain purchases made by private transportation contractors exempt from sales tax. School Safety The Senate modifies the Executive proposals for school safety plans. The Senate accepts the Executive proposals that would require: ● Building level emergency response plans would be completely confidential except for authorized school staff and appropriate law enforcement. ● Four of eight emergency drills would be lockdown drills with the remainder being fire drills. ● Districts holding fewer than 180 days of session due to a credible threat to student safety would not receive a state aid reduction. The Senate added language that would require districts to develop policies and procedures to alert parents and guardians if their child is at risk of committing suicide.
Property Tax Cap The Senate proposal would make the property tax cap permanent and would include New York City in the cap. Bond Votes The Senate proposal would require that all bond votes be held in conjunction with the school budget election, unless there is a unanimously approved emergency. All defeated bond proposals could only be submitted for one re-vote. New York City Mayoral Control The Senate rejects the Executive proposal to extend mayoral control in the NYC school district for three years. Curriculum Mandate The Senate proposal would establish “Erin Merryn’s Law” which would require the Board of Regents to consider the need for instruction in the prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation for students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. Audits The Senate proposal would increase the number of districts exempt from the internal audit function requirement to districts with up to 5,000 students instead of 1,500 students.
