Overall School Aid increase of $1.76 Billion

• Added over $300 million to the Governor's proposed increase of $1.4 billion.

• Agreed to major components of the Governor's new Foundation Aid formula to combine nearly 30 aid formulas into a single Foundation Aid formula.

• New Foundation Aid formula would be based on the actual costs associated with an adequate education and would:

• use additional student weightings for disadvantaged and special needs students
• adjust for regional variations in the cost of education, and
• expect a reasonable local contribution tied to the wealth of a district.

• Aid increases are targeted at High-Need School Districts and all districts receive a minimum Foundation Aid increase of 3%.

• Total Foundation Aid increase of $1.1 billion for 2007-08 and a four-year increase in Foundation Aid of more than $5.5 billion.

• Expenditures associated with foundation aid increases are exempt from the contingency budget cap. 

• Any district that receives a Foundation Aid increase greater than $15 million or greater than 10% or receives a supplemental educational improvement plan grant and has at least one school currently identified as requiring academic progress or in need of improvement or in corrective action or restructuring, must enter into a Contract for Excellence.

• The Contract for Excellence, which 56 school districts must complete, will govern how the Foundation Aid formula increases are used. There are five categories of allowable programs and activities for which the additional aid must be used: class size reduction, programs that increase student time on task, teacher and principal quality initiatives, middle school and high school restructuring, and full-day kindergarten or prekindergarten.

• New or expanded programs under the Contract for Excellence must predominately benefit students with the greatest educational needs including, but not limited to LEP students, students in poverty, and students with disabilities.

• Beginning in the 2008-09 school year, the Contract for Excellence must be developed through a public process with participation from parents, teachers and administrators.

• Contract for Excellence must be submitted to the Commissioner of Education for approval.

• The New York City Contract for Excellence must include a plan to reduce average class sizes.

• Funded at current law level of $1.42 billion, an increase of $81.42 million.

• Funded at current law level of $758.40 million, an increase of $39.45 million.

Funded at current law level of $1.77 billion, an increase of $35.86 million.

• Public Excess Cost Aid was folded into the Foundation Aid Formula.

• Private and High Cost Excess Cost Aid was continued at current law level of $617.05 million.

• Enacted a new Supplemental Public Excess Cost Aid funded at $20.82 million.

• Funded at $99.99 million and is targeted to districts in counties with a tax effort ratio of 4.2%.

• Continued Teachers of Tomorrow program at $25 million.

• Increased Teacher Centers funding from $37 million to $40 million.

• Increased Mentor-Intern Program funding from $6 million to $10 million.

• Funded at $437.91 million, an increase of $145.89 million.

• The Education Commissioner and Regents must adopt regulations that "take into account the availability of certified teachers and teaching assistants to provide instruction in prekindergarten programs."

• Provided $1.3 billion in property tax relief for 2007-08 by increasing the STAR benefit for seniors and by enacting a new Middle Class STAR Program, replacing the 2006-07 STAR Rebate Program. Property Tax relief from the Middle Class STAR Program will be in the form of a rebate check.

• Rejected the Governor’s proposal to enact a new tuition tax deduction of $1,000 for parents of students attending private and public schools

• Agreed to increase the Charter School Cap from 100 to 200

• Agreed to Transition Aid to partially offset the added costs faced by districts from charter schools.

• All staff must be unionized at new charter schools that are approved after July 1, 2007 and have more than 250 students within the first two years.

• Requires new charter schools in districts with 5% of students in charter schools to show a significant educational benefit to the students.

• Requires charter schools to demonstrate good faith efforts to serve ELL and students with disabilities.

• Exempts spending increases for charter school payments from the contingency budget cap.