2022 Financial Condition Report

For Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2022

Elementary and Secondary Education

2022 Financial Condition Report
For Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2022

Significant Federal Aid Continues to Support New York Schools

  • According to the Division of the Budget, schools have received or are slated to receive $15.3 billion from various federal aid programs, including $1.6 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), $4.4 billion from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA Act), and $9.3 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP Act). Federal pandemic relief for K-12 education is expected to run through SFY 2024-25.
  • In SFY 2021-22, $2 billion of federal COVID-19 recovery funding was disbursed to New York school districts, an amount equal to 7.1 percent of State funding levels for the same period.

New York State Ranks Highest in Nation in Per Pupil Spending

  • For the 2019-20 school year (SY), the most recent year for which data are available, New York State led all states in per-pupil disbursements for public elementary and secondary education at $25,519 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. New York’s per-pupil spending rose 1.6 percent from the previous year and is 89 percent greater than the national average. Differences in educational spending among states may reflect variations in student profiles and regional costs, among other factors.
  • In SY 2019-20, 56.1 percent of K-12 students were certified for free and reduced-price school meals based on household income, higher than the national average (52.1 percent).
Bar chart of Per Pupil Education Spending
Line chart of Students Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch

Local Resources Represent the Largest Source of Funding

  • In SY 2020-21, support for public elementary and secondary schools in New York came from the following sources:
    • Local, $45.6 billion;
    • State, $28.9 billion, including the School Tax Relief Program (STAR) of $2 billion; and
    • Federal, $2.7 billion.
  • In school budgets proposed for SY 2022-23, property tax levy increases averaged 1.7 percent, compared to a 1.4 percent increase the previous year. The number of voters increased by approximately 120,000 for SY 2022-23 budget votes with seven districts failing on the first try, compared to five last year.
Bar chart of Federal, State and Local Funding for Elementary and Secondary Schools

Student Performance

  • Overall graduation rates have steadily increased since SY 2016-17 in New York. However, the rate of students receiving a Regents diploma is steadily declining over the same period.
  • New York’s fourth grade students scored slightly below the national average on the National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) math test in 2019 and ranked 40th in the nation. Eighth graders in New York also scored slightly below the national average, but ranked 27th in the nation.