May 9, 2007 -- Scores of city public schools can expect a boost of roughly $400,000 this fall under a new funding formula that ties cash to student characteristics, including their family income and ability to speak English.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday laid out specifics of the new method, intended to ensure that schools of similar size and demographics get the same amount of city tax dollars - an aim that has long eluded the school system.
He outlined the different values assigned to factors such as the student's grade, academic ability, poverty level and English proficiency.
According to the plan, a school could receive as little as $3,788 for a first-grader who lives above the poverty line, did not transfer from a failing school and is proficient in English.
But a first-grader who lives in poverty, transferred from a failing school and cannot speak English could funnel $8,212 to the same school's coffers.
Depending on a child's special needs, a school could expect to receive an additional $2,121 and $8,637.
While schools already receive additional city money to address student needs - including learning and English-language difficulties - budgets have never been so specifically weighted to student traits.
The new formula was announced in January by Mayor Bloomberg and schools were presented with their budgets for the upcoming academic year yesterday. The allocations were based on an estimated enrollment for the 2007-08 school year.
"For too long, some students have not had their fair share of resources," Klein said. "[Some schools] will see that their school budgets are much larger, more equitable" and offer them more flexibility.
Nearly half of the city's more than 1,450 public schools were allocated more money than they received in the current school year, with 67 of them hitting a ceiling of $400,000 in additional funding.
Principal Debra Van Nostrand of IS 5 in Elmhurst, Queens, said she would use most of the new money to hire more teachers and reduce class sizes.
"When you have 30 students who speak 15 different languages in a classroom, it's too many to do targeted instruction in tiny groups," Van Nostrand said. "Now I can split the class into two."
