The Peru Gazette

Albany, May 27, 2026 – Speaker Carl Heastie, Education Committee Chair Michael Benedetto and Children and Families Committee Chair Andrew Hevesi today announced the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026-2027 Enacted Budget provides $39 billion in school aid, a $1.7 billion increase from School Year (SY) 2025-26, and $27.4 billion for Foundation Aid, a $1 billion increase over SY 2025-26. It also invests $3 billion in childcare subsidies.

“The enacted budget also includes:

• $26 million for the Yonkers City School District;
• $21.4 million for Teacher Resource and Computer Training Centers for SY 2026-27;
• $2.4 million for Buffalo and Rochester City School District Health Services;
• $1.9 million for Nonpublic School Aid, for a total of $242.1 million;
• $1.7 million for the Mind Builders Creative Arts Center;
• $1.5 million for Schools for the Blind and Deaf (4201 schools), for a total of $116.4 million, and $5.4 million in funding for nine individual 4201 schools;
• $1.5 million for the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE), for a total of $13 million, and $250,000 for the CWE Credentialling;
• $1.125 million for Implicit Bias Training; and
• $1.25 for staff to support the needs of students with dyslexia and dysgraphia, for a total of $1.5 million.

The budget extends mayoral control of the New York City School District for an additional two years, until June 30, 2028.

Electric School Buses

The enacted budget extends the zero-emission bus mandates by five years, allowing districts until July 1, 2032, to purchase only zero-emission buses and until July 1, 2040, to operate and maintain only zero-emission buses.

Universal Pre-K

The enacted budget expands Universal Pre-K (UPK) to support full-day instruction for 4-year-old children by fall 2028, as well as consolidating UPK and Statewide Universal Full Day Pre-K into a single program. Additionally, it will provide funding for an increased number of 3-year-old children in prekindergarten in New York City.

Afterschool & Childcare

The enacted budget includes $116 million for after-school programs.

The spending plan also provides $3 billion in childcare subsidies to help New York families. This includes:

• $2.4 billion in base subsidy funding;
• $475 million in additional subsidies for New York City, which must be matched one-for-one with local funds; and
• $155 million in additional subsidies for counties outside of New York City, which would not require any additional local match.

The enacted budget provides $73 million to begin 2-Care in New York City and $66 million for the creation of new childcare pilot programs in Broome, Dutchess and Monroe Counties.

My Brother’s Keeper

One decade ago, New York became the first state in the country to fund the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. My Brother’s Keeper seeks to engage with families and communities to provide professional, developmental and educational opportunities that seek to address issues related to restorative justice and racial disparities in education. The SFY 2026-27 Assembly Budget includes a total of $28 million for My Brother’s Keeper.