Mayor Urges Albany to Utilize Teacher Wage Index to Determine School Funding, Potentially Bringing an Additional $64 Million to District over Five Years
Continuing his push for additional State funding, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano heads to Albany today to call on New York State representatives to change the State’s metric for education funding to the Comparable Wage Index for Teachers (CWIFT). CWIFT reflects current county economic conditions and the variations in competitive teacher wages, in which Westchester County has the highest costs. If funded using this index, Yonkers Public Schools could receive an additional $64 million in educational funding over the next five years.
In 2024, the Rockefeller Institute issued a report on New York State education funding, suggesting CWIFT is a more equitable solution to funding districts by calculating the expected local share of education contribution by comparing district wealth with the cost of hiring local teacher talent by county. Currently, New York State utilizes the Regional Cost Index (RCI) as a key component of Foundation Aid. According to the Rockefeller Institute’s report, “the current nine-region construct of the RCI does not adequately reflect the cost differences faced by individual school districts.” The report suggests 71% of all districts would benefit from a new CWIFT.
For 20 years in which the RCI has been used to calculate funding, Yonkers has been grouped with smaller local economies in Upstate and Western New York, such as Sullivan and Ulster Counties, putting the Yonkers School District at a disadvantage for Foundation Aid.
“I encourage New York to recognize the disparity and alter the calculations for education aid by adopting CWIFT,” says Mayor Spano. “Heed the Rockefeller Institute’s recommendations and fund Yonkers Public Schools based on the economic costs of running a school in our county, and not those 100 miles north of us.”
Mayor Spano is expected to testify today in front the New York State’s Assembly Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, where he will advocate for additional school and municipal funding. Mayor Spano also will ask the Legislature to make the State’s Shared Services Grant available to Yonkers, citing the City’s successful merger of five city and school nonacademic departments that alleviates $10 million annually from the District’s budget.
Mayor Spano also will cite the staggering increase in educational services for Yonkers students with learning differences as a reason for additional funding, stating, “Our special education enrollment has increased 14% in just three years, due to the lasting effects of the pandemic and our proximity to New York City families who are seeking an alternate educational option. What’s even more concerning is the intensity of the services required to address any learning differences has increased by 21%, which puts more of a strain on our specialty staffing needs, meaning more therapists and aides.”
Mayor Spano continued, “While the Yonkers School District is a model urban district, achieving the highest graduation rate of the Big 5 for the last nine years, it has done so with non-recurrent revenue. We are edging towards severe cuts without guaranteed funding. We’ve come to the limit of what the City and our residents can afford. I ask New York State to reassess how Districts are funded so they can guarantee reoccurring aid to our students.”
