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Key education takeaways from proposed 2026 state budget

The 2026 fiscal year executive budget, shared by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, provides $37.4 billion in total school aid for the 2026-27 school year. 

The proposed budget offers a $1.7 billion increase from last year, including a $1.5 billion increase in Foundation Aid and a $230 million increase in all other School Aid programs, including expense-based aids, categorical aids and competitive grants. 

Foundation Aid

Foundation Aid has been the state’s main education operating formula since 2007. The formula aims to allocate state funds equitably to all school districts — especially high-need districts — based on student need, community wealth and regional cost differences. 

In 2026, the executive budget “begins the process of reforming the Foundation Aid formula by updating the formula’s two measures of the percentage of low-income students in a school district, consistent with the recommendations of the Rockefeller Institute of Government and the Board of Regents.” 

In efforts to reform the formula, the state will replace outdated 2000 Census poverty rate with the most recent Census Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates data. It also replaces free- and reduced-price lunch data with economically disadvantaged data “to better reflect the current population of low-income students.”

The modified formula will provide additional aid to low-wealth school districts and ensure that each district receives at least a 2% annual increase in aid.

Universal Free School Meals

Under the proposed budget, all public, charter and nonprofit school students in the state will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch meals regardless of family income with Universal Free School Meals. The 2026 fiscal year budget allocates $360 million for school meals — a $160 million year-to-year increase. Under this program, the state will cover the student’s share of costs for all meals served to students who are not already receiving free meals. 

The plan builds on the Community Eligibility Provision subsidy program that was adopted in the 2024 state budget. The existing federal CEP program has serviced 90% of the state’s 2.75 million students through free meals with the assistance of state funding. Riverhead Central School District and Greenport Union Free School District currently offer free meals through the CEP program. 

According to the budget, the state will continue to subsidize the local share of costs for all schools participating in the CEP program and additionally pay any share of student costs for meals served in schools ineligible to participate in the CEP program based on current federal rules. 

Distraction-Free Schools

Ms. Hochul also proposed a policy restricting the use of smartphones and other internet-enabled devices on school grounds during school hours “to ensure a distraction-free leaning environment.” The executive budget provides $13.5 million to aid in the implementation of this proposal. 

More than 70% of teachers throughout the country say that cellphones pose a “major distraction” for students in the classroom, according to a Pew Research Center study.

“We’re not developing the skills we need because kids are distracted with the cellphones,” Ms. Hochul said at a press conference Tuesday. She said teachers are competing with “viral dances … messages from their friends, sometimes threats [and] bullying” for students’ attention during class.

Students, parents, teachers, administrators, advocates and local leaders met with Ms. Hochul to “devise a solution” to the “complicated challenge” that smartphones pose in schools.

“By the start of the next school year, every student will be required to disconnect from their devices during the school hours, bell to bell,” Ms. Hochul said. “That means during class, at lunch [and] in the hallways.”

Schools will have flexibility in implementing the policy next school year, she explained. Districts will have say over how they store the devices and how they will ensure compliance.

Students who need devices for medical reasons, students who speak English as a second language and students with learning disabilities will be exceptions for the policy.

College in High School Opportunity Fund

$64.6 million is allocated in the executive budget for the College in High School Opportunity Fund, which focuses on providing support for economically disadvantaged students to achieve college credits and will come at no cost to participating students in qualified programs. 

The budget allocated $52.4 million for Smart Scholars, Smart Transfer and Pathways in Technology Early College programs. It also provides $12.2 million for new ongoing, per-credit funding for College in High School programs. 

Charter Schools

The executive budget continues state support of charter schools through supplemental tuition and facilities aid reimbursement programs, providing a total of $190 million for supplemental tuition and $145 million for facilities aid.

Nonpublic School Programs

The 2026 budget provides $228.4 million in aid to reimburse nonpublic schools’ costs for state-mandated activities, a $10.3 million increase from last year. Additionally, it provides $85.5 million for science, technology, engineering and math instruction — a $10 million increase from last year. 

It also provides $70 million for health and safety capital projects such as repair and maintenance of school facilities, as well as $5 million for art and music instruction.

More reporting to come on these issues.