S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4609
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 6, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RUSSELL, LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to eliminating certain
minimum aid provisions for the computation of foundation aid and
implement a regional cost index to reflect current cost differences
among various regions in the state
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "school
funding equity act".
S 2. Paragraph s of subdivision 1 of section 3602 of the education
law, as amended by section 11 of part B of chapter 57 of the laws of
2007, is amended to read as follows:
s. "Extraordinary needs count" shall mean the sum of the product of
the limited English proficiency count multiplied by fifty percent, plus,
THE PRODUCT OF the poverty count AND ONE HUNDRED FIFTY PERCENT (1.50)
and the sparsity count.
S 3. Paragraph gg of subdivision 1 of section 3602 of the education
law, as added by section 25 of part A of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011,
is amended to read as follows:
gg. "Allocable growth amount" shall mean the positive difference, if
any, of the SUM OF THE allowable growth amount AND FOR DISTRICTS WHICH
HAVE NOT ACHIEVED SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL DISTRICT STATUS AS DEFINED IN
SUBPARAGRAPH ONE OF PARAGRAPH A OF SUBDIVISION FOUR OF THIS SECTION, THE
INCREASE IN APPORTIONMENTS PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION FOUR OF THIS SECTION
OVER THE BASE YEAR less the sum of the competitive awards amount plus
the preliminary growth amount.
S 4. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph h of subdivision 2 of section 3602 of
the education law, as added by section 13 of part B of chapter 57 of the
laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07797-02-3
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(1) Total wealth foundation pupil units shall mean the sum of (i)
average daily membership for the year UP TO FIVE YEARS prior to the base
year WHICHEVER IS HIGHEST as computed in this section, plus (ii) the
full-time equivalent enrollment of resident pupils attending public
school elsewhere, less the full-time equivalent enrollment of nonresi-
dent pupils, plus (iii) the full-time equivalent enrollment of resident
pupils attending full-time in board of cooperative educational services
(not otherwise specifically included). Native American pupils of a
reservation attending public school, or pupils living on the United
States military reservation at West Point attending public school, shall
be deemed to be resident pupils of the district providing such school,
for purposes of this paragraph. Where a school district has entered into
a contract with state university pursuant to subdivision two of section
three hundred fifty-five of this chapter under which the school district
makes payment in the nature of tuition for the education of certain
children residing in the district, such children for whom such tuition
payments are made shall be deemed to be resident pupils of such district
for the purposes of this paragraph.
S 5. The opening paragraph and paragraph a of subdivision 4 of section
3602 of the education law, the opening paragraph as amended by section
6-a of part A of chapter 57 of the laws of 2012 and paragraph a as
amended by section 26 of part A of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, are
amended to read as follows:
In addition to any other apportionment pursuant to this chapter, a
school district, other than a special act school district as defined in
subdivision eight of section four thousand one of this chapter, shall be
eligible for total foundation aid equal to the product of total aidable
foundation pupil units multiplied by the district's selected foundation
aid, which shall be [the greater of five hundred dollars ($500) or]
EQUAL TO THE foundation formula aid, provided, however that for the two
thousand seven--two thousand eight through two thousand eight--two thou-
sand nine school years, no school district shall receive total founda-
tion aid in excess of the sum of the total foundation aid base for aid
payable in the two thousand seven--two thousand eight school year
computed pursuant to subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision one
of this section, plus the phase-in foundation increase computed pursuant
to paragraph b of this subdivision, and provided further that for the
two thousand twelve--two thousand thirteen school year and thereafter,
no school district shall receive total foundation aid in excess of the
sum of the total foundation aid base for aid payable in the two thousand
eleven--two thousand twelve school year computed pursuant to paragraph j
of subdivision one of this section, plus the phase-in foundation
increase computed pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision, and
provided further that total foundation aid shall not be less than the
product of [the total] foundation aid IN THE base [computed pursuant to
paragraph j of subdivision one of this section] YEAR and [one hundred
and six-tenths] EIGHTY-FIVE percent [(1.006)] subject to allocation
pursuant to the provisions of subdivision eighteen of this section and
any provisions of a chapter of the laws of New York as described there-
in, nor more than the product of such total foundation aid base and one
hundred [fifteen] TWENTY-FIVE percent, and provided further that for the
two thousand nine--two thousand ten through two thousand eleven--two
thousand twelve school years, each school district shall receive total
foundation aid in an amount equal to the amount apportioned to such
school district for the two thousand eight--two thousand nine school
year pursuant to this subdivision. Total aidable foundation pupil units
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shall be calculated pursuant to paragraph g of subdivision two of this
section. For the purposes of calculating aid pursuant to this subdivi-
sion, aid for the city school district of the city of New York shall be
calculated on a citywide basis.
a. Foundation formula aid. Foundation formula aid shall equal the
remainder when the expected minimum local contribution is subtracted
from the product of the foundation amount, the regional cost index, and
the pupil need index, or: (foundation amount x regional cost index x
pupil need index)- expected minimum local contribution.
(1) The foundation amount shall [reflect] EQUAL the average per pupil
cost of general education instruction in ALL successful school districts
EXCLUDING ONLY THE HIGHEST DECILE SPENDING SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL DISTRICTS
AND THE LOWEST DECILE SPENDING SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL DISTRICTS FROM CALCU-
LATION OF SUCH AVERAGE, as determined by a statistical analysis of the
costs of special education and general education in successful school
districts PROVIDED THAT THE DEFINITION OF SUCH SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL
DISTRICTS SHALL BE ALIGNED WITH PERFORMANCE DATA FOR SUCCESS AT
POST-SECONDARY LEVELS AND WITH PERFORMANCE ON NATIONAL TESTING AND,
FURTHER provided that the foundation amount shall be adjusted annually
to reflect the percentage increase in the consumer price index as
computed pursuant to section two thousand twenty-two of this chapter,
provided that for the two thousand eight--two thousand nine school year,
for the purpose of such adjustment, the percentage increase in the
consumer price index shall be deemed to be two and nine-tenths percent
(0.029), and provided further that the foundation amount for the two
thousand seven--two thousand eight school year shall be five thousand
two hundred fifty-eight dollars, and provided further that for the two
thousand seven--two thousand eight through two thousand fifteen--two
thousand sixteen school years, the foundation amount shall be further
adjusted by the phase-in foundation percent established pursuant to
paragraph b of this subdivision.
(2) The regional cost index shall reflect an analysis of labor market
costs based on median salaries in professional occupations that require
similar credentials to those of positions in the education field, but
not including those occupations in the education field, provided that
the regional cost indices for the two thousand seven--two thousand eight
school year and thereafter shall be as follows:
Labor Force Region Index
Capital District [1.124] 1.149
Southern Tier [1.045] 1.061
Western New York [1.091] 1.103
Hudson Valley [1.314] 1.392
Long Island/NYC [1.425] 1.544
Finger Lakes [1.141] 1.133
Central New York [1.103] 1.130
Mohawk Valley [1.000] 1.036
North Country 1.000
(3) The pupil need index shall equal the sum of one plus the extraor-
dinary needs percent[, provided, however, that the pupil need index
shall not be less than one nor more than two]. The extraordinary needs
percent shall be calculated pursuant to paragraph w of subdivision one
of this section.
(4) The expected minimum local contribution shall equal the lesser of
(i) the product of (A) the quotient arrived at when the selected actual
valuation is divided by total wealth foundation pupil units, multiplied
by (B) the product of the local tax factor, multiplied by the income
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wealth index, or (ii) the product of (A) the product of the foundation
amount, the regional cost index, and the pupil need index, multiplied by
(B) the positive difference, if any, of one minus the state sharing
ratio for total foundation aid. The local tax factor shall be estab-
lished by May first of each year by determining the product, computed to
four decimal places without rounding, of ninety percent multiplied by
the quotient of the sum of the statewide average tax rate as computed by
the commissioner for the current year in accordance with the provisions
of paragraph e of subdivision one of section thirty-six hundred nine-e
of this part plus the statewide average tax rate computed by the commis-
sioner for the base year in accordance with such provisions plus the
statewide average tax rate computed by the commissioner for the year
prior to the base year in accordance with such provisions, divided by
three, provided however that for the two thousand seven--two thousand
eight school year, such local tax factor shall be sixteen thousandths
(0.016), and provided further that for the two thousand eight--two thou-
sand nine school year, such local tax factor shall be one hundred
fifty-four ten thousandths (0.0154). The income wealth index shall be
calculated pursuant to paragraph d of subdivision three of this section,
provided, however, that for the purposes of computing the expected mini-
mum local contribution the income wealth index shall not be less than
[sixty-five] TWENTY-FIVE percent [(0.65)] (0.25) and shall not be more
than [two] THREE hundred percent [(2.0)] (3.0) and provided however that
such income wealth index shall not be more than ninety-five percent
(0.95) for the two thousand eight--two thousand nine school year. The
selected actual valuation shall be calculated pursuant to paragraph c of
subdivision one of this section. Total wealth foundation pupil units
shall be calculated pursuant to paragraph h of subdivision two of this
section.
S 6. Subdivision 18 of section 3602 of the education law, as added by
section 37 of part A of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
read as follows:
18. Allocable growth amount apportionment. Such amount shall be appor-
tioned for a school year pursuant to a chapter of the laws of New York
enacted for the state fiscal year in which such school year commences,
and shall be allocated to purposes including but not limited to compet-
itive grant awards made pursuant to subdivisions five and six of section
thirty-six hundred forty-one of this article, the foundation aid phase-
in amount or other foundation aid increase allocated pursuant to subdi-
vision four of this section and the gap elimination adjustment restora-
tion amount apportioned pursuant to subdivision seventeen of this
section. In the event that a chapter of the laws of New York enacted for
the state fiscal year in which such school year commences is not
enacted, the allocations in support of subdivisions five and six of
section thirty-six hundred forty-one of this article shall equal the
allocations in support of such awards in the base year, and EXCEPT FOR
THOSE DISTRICTS WHICH HAVE NOT ACHIEVED SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL DISTRICT
STATUS AS DEFINED IN SUBPARAGRAPH ONE OF PARAGRAPH A OF SUBDIVISION FOUR
OF THIS SECTION, the apportionments pursuant to subdivisions four and
seventeen of this section for the current year shall equal NOT MORE THAN
the apportionments for such subdivisions four and seventeen for the base
year.
S 7. This act shall take effect immediately.