City Hall, NY – During the City Council’s Executive Budget jointly held by the Committee on Education and the Committee on Finance on Tuesday, the Council identified remaining gaps in the budgets of the Department of Education (DOE) within the Mayor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Executive Budget that leave some key programs without funding and others with only one-time funding.  

The FY 2026 Executive Budget includes a proposed budget of $34.35 billion for the DOE, $860.3 million more than in the Preliminary Budget and $1.68 billion greater than the adopted FY 2025 budget. DOE’s budget has significant changes in the Executive Budget, including the baselining of many key programs and those formerly funded with federal stimulus funding that were supported in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response. These include $197 million ($192 million baselined) for early childhood education, $194 million for school nurses, $41 million in state funding for arts education, $14 million for community schools, $12 million for restorative justice, and $5 million for the Mental Health Continuum. The Executive Budget also includes an additional $150 million to help DOE meet the state class size mandate. 

However, various student and family support programs outlined in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response were either left unfunded or only received one-time funding for FY 2026 in the Mayor’s Executive Budget: 

One-Time Funding 

Summer Rising 

Summer Rising is a joint DOE and Department of Youth and Community Development program providing academic and enrichment programming, including instruction, arts activities, field trips, and outdoor recreation to NYC students grades K-8 over the summer. Last year, Summer Rising enrolled over 100,000 students with tens of thousands more on waitlists. The FY 2026 Preliminary Budget included one-time funding of $80 million for Summer Rising. The Council has proposed that it be baselined in FY 2026 and the outyears. 

Learn to Work 

Learn to Work (LTW) engages approximately 3,000 older students in completing their high school education and preparing for college and the workforce. LTW works with youth who have either dropped out or fallen behind on credits by connecting them with community-based organizations to help them build skills, support them to reach their educational goals and access internships and gain work experience. The FY 2026 Preliminary Budget included one-time funding of $31 million for LTW. The Council has proposed that this long-time initiative is baselined in FY 2026 and the outyears.  

School Cleaning 

The Department of Education contracts with the New York City School Support Services to provide custodial services in public schools. This has previously been funded with $154 million of federal funds that expired prior to FY 2026. Without this funding, the Department of Education would not be able to meet contractual obligations with New York City School Support Services to provide all custodial services to public schools in New York City. The Council proposed the Administration provide $154 million of baselined City tax-levy funds starting in FY 2026 to replace the expiring federal funds budget for New York City School Support Services. These services received one-time funding for FY 2026 only.   

Mental Health Continuum 

In FY 2025, 16 new school-based mental health clinics were opened with funding allocated for the Mental Health Continuum. The Council proposed the Administration baseline $5 million starting in FY 2026 to continue supporting these clinics and other services provided as part of the inter-agency partnership between the Department of Education, H+H, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to provide mental health support to all students, both in person and via video. This program received one-time funding for FY 2026 only.   

Immigrant Family Engagement 

Language barriers and issues related to immigration status often inhibit parent engagement in their children’s education. In order to improve the engagement between schools and immigrant families, the City needs to continue to provide support for language access, using local ethnic media to share school related updates, sending translated paper notices to families’ homes, reaching families via phone calls and text messages in their native languages, and collaborating with immigrant-facing community-based organizations. Funding for this program has been added in each of the last few years, but for only one year. The funding for these services should be made permanent with the baselining of $4 million starting in FY 2026. In the Executive Budget, this outreach program again received one-time funding only. 

Early Childhood Education – Outreach and Marketing 

To ensure families are aware of and can access early childhood education seats, the Council fought for and successfully secured funding in the FY 2025 budget for the reinstatement of an outreach and marketing plan to publicize 3-K and Pre-K programs. $5 million is allocated to continue outreach efforts in FY 2026 but not in the subsequent fiscal years. The Council proposes that this allocation be baselined in FY 2026. 

Unfunded 

School Food Workers 

Despite an increased investment baselined starting in the FY 2025 budget for school food workers, the Department of Education has struggled to hire enough staff to meet the demand. Many families rely upon school food to meet their children’s nutritional needs. The shortage of school food workers puts the City’s school food programs at risk and worsens working environments for existing school food workers already providing meals for our students. High turnover rates and poor working conditions for school food workers must be addressed in schools. While the Department of Education works to restore headcount to pre-pandemic levels, the Council proposed the Administration provide an additional $10 million of baselined funding starting in FY 2026 to hire additional school food workers. The Executive Budget does not include this funding. 

Student Success Centers 

Through partnerships between community-based organizations and multi-school campuses, Student Success Centers provide support for high school students in the college admissions process. Student Success Centers employ Peer Leaders, host family events, and host student workshops for college readiness programming. In FY 2025 the City provided $3.3 million to continue funding the Student Success Center initiative, but these funds were not baselined, and the centers are in jeopardy of being closed in the next school year. To keep providing these valued services, the Council proposed the Administration invest $3.3 million in FY 2026 for Student Success Centers to remain at current operating levels. The Executive Budget failed to include this funding. 

Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialists 

Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialists provide counseling, peer programming, and referrals for professional services. They also conduct parent workshops for the school community. During the 2024-2025 school year, the Department of Education was able to hire an additional 20 specialists with $2 million in City Council funding and a $2 million match of State funding. However, additional funding for this staff was added in FY 2025 only. Many schools risk losing these important workers if these funds are not provided in FY 2026. The Council proposed the Administration baseline $4 million in funding for Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialists, starting in FY 2026. The Executive Budget did not allocate any funding towards maintaining these services. 

Council Education Initiatives 

The Council’s education funding initiatives support early childhood literacy, diverse K-12 curriculum initiatives, social and emotional support for students, teacher supports, and more. It is critical that this approximately $39 million, left out of the Mayor’s Executive Budget, is included in the final budget through a continued full commitment towards Council discretionary funding.   

“The mayor’s Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget finally makes strides in baselining services and programs that our school communities rely on rather than subjecting them to yet another unnecessary budget dance,” said Council Member Rita Joseph, Chair of the Committee on Education. “This is a testament to the steadfast advocacy of parents, students, advocates, and nonprofit providers for the education and services New York City’s public school kids deserve. There is still more work to do ahead of the Adopted Budget as some programs remain unfunded or only received one-time funding. My commitment to New York City’s students is unwavering, and I look forward to passing an Adopted Budget that has all that they need.”