Education Department, State

Agency Web Site: http://www.nysed.gov/

Mission

The State Education Department (SED) is the administrative agency of the Board of Regents. The Department's primary mission is to raise the knowledge, skill, and opportunity of all the people in New York.

Budget Highlights

The State Education Department administers school aid, regulates school operations, maintains a performance accountability system, certifies teachers and administers a host of other educational programs. These include special education services, cultural education programs, such as the State Museum and the State Archives, higher and professional education programs, vocational rehabilitation and adult career and continuing education services.

The Executive Budget recommends $56.6 billion for the State Education Department. Change from the previous year primarily reflects a decrease in new capital appropriations associated with the Smart Schools Bond Act, funding reappropriated by the Executive Budget.

The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 2,692 FTEs for the State Education Department, an increase of 20 FTEs from the expected March 31, 2015 workforce level. This increase is primarily related to employees overseeing the licensing of professions that are regulated by the State Education Department. These positions are supported entirely by dedicated revenue funds.

Major budget actions include:

• School Aid Increase: The Executive Budget reflects the commitment to improving student outcomes by providing a $1.1 billion increase in aid (4.8 percent) and conditioning it on the implementation of vital education reforms, including improvements to the systems for teacher evaluation, tenure, certification and preparation as well as providing authority to truly improve failing schools and providing increased support and accountability to charter schools.
• Expand Access of Pre-Kindergarten to State's Youngest Students: Building on the success of the Governor's previous pre-kindergarten expansions, the Executive Budget invests $25 million to expand high quality half-day and full-day prekindergarten programs to 3-year old children in the highest-need school districts.
• Strengthen Accountability for Failing Schools: The Executive Budget provides $8 million to support turnaround strategies modeled after the Massachusetts education receivership model.
• Preschool Special Education Rates: New York State offers all-encompassing services to its students with disabilities, including services to children before they reach school age. The State’s spending on Preschool Special Education is approximately $1 billion. To improve service delivery and administration of the program, the 2015-16 Executive Budget establishes regional rates for Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) providers.
• Establish an Education Tax Credit: A new Education Tax Credit, is created which reflects contributions to public education entities, school improvement organizations, local education funds, and educational scholarship organizations. The program will be capped at $100 million in aggregate education tax credits annually. Half of the annual cap will be dedicated to public education entities, school improvement organizations and local education funds. The other half will be allocated to educational scholarship organizations that provide support to low and middle income students hoping to attend a public school outside of their district or nonpublic school.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Education and Arts (PDF)

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/21/2015

Click for additional detailed appropriation tables