The easiest way to explain what schools are receiving from the state this year is to look at a single district.

Let’s take Buffalo.

Last year (meaning for the current 2019-2020 school year), the Buffalo schools received $544,172,616 in Foundation Aid. This year, Buffalo will receive the same amount: $544,172,616.  

But the way the state gets to that point is a bit circuitous.

Like every other school district in the state, Buffalo took a “Pandemic Adjustment” hit. Buffalo’s “Pandemic Adjustment” hit cost the district $29,583,549.  

If there had been no federal stimulus money, Foundation Aid this year for the Buffalo schools would have dropped to $514,589,067.  

But the state received $1.13 billion in “Federal Cares Restoration.”  Buffalo’s share of that restoration is $29,583,549.  

Now take a look to Buffalo’s “Pandemic Adjustment” hit. It’s exactly the same amount of money. The hit and the restoration are equal.

It’s like that across the state.

Due to changes in building aid, charter school funding and a few other items, Buffalo will receive a slight .03% increase in this year’s New York state budget. The district’s increase is small potatoes, adding up to only $254,752.

Dr. Rick Timbs of the Statewide School Finance Consortium calls this scheme to supplant a cut with federal revenue “a quid pro quo.”

While it may be a relief for some not to see immediate cuts, Timbs explains that “unless you take aid away from one school and send it to another in Robin Hood fashion,” schools that were poor will remain poor.

Chair of the Senate Education Committee Senator Shelley Mayer of Yonkers told Capital Tonight that, before the pandemic, she had fought tooth and nail to change the way school aid is calculated and to ensure that schools received their “fair share” of Foundation Aid. But that fight had to take a backseat to fighting the pandemic.

She also told us she has every intention of returning to Albany post-budget.

The senator isn’t the only one to have policy hopes dashed by COVID-19.  

Back in January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had proposed adding several aid streams to the larger Foundation Aid formula.

Sen. Mayer, school districts and others were deeply concerned about the proposed change. But that shift is not taking place. Funding streams including BOCES, Transportation, Building, High Cost, and Library Aid all remain separate from Foundation Aid in the new state budget.