Education Funding in the Time of Coronavirus [City & State]

Lawmakers are back in Albany this week and looking to pass a state budget amid the coronavirus outbreak. Among their top priorities will be getting as much funding as possible for their public schools in their districts...

Tell me more about how coronavirus is factoring into the education side of the budget?
"Like it or not, our schools are the place where many basic services for our children are being met. That's why the issues of mental health, particularly in the primary and the early years, is a critical issue across the state in New York City and elsewhere. The schools need additional social workers, school psychologists to deal with students. They need to be able to provide breakfast and lunch to every child. We just have a range of services a school needs to provide and we're dealing with a Foundation Aid formula that's quite old and it hasn't been funded.

"The executive needs to come to the table fully prepared to meet the Regents’ description of how this should be paid out. We are somewhat frustrated about having this fight year after year, begging for additions. But they are really just Band-Aids on a system that should be fixed. We should get this done. And then we can move on to a more robust conversation of how schools can educate kids.