What is Fair Student Funding (FSF)?

  • Fair Student Funding (FSF) is the largest funding stream that we provide to schools, and it is based on the number of students enrolled at each school + the specific needs of those students. 
  • Student needs are “weighted” based on the cost of meeting a student's educational need (e.g., academic needs, special education needs); and schools get more money for students with greater needs. 
  • FSF makes up about two-thirds of most K-12 NYCPS school budgets. 
    • Other funding sources include federal funding streams, such as Title I (for schools with high percentages of children from low-income families), Title III (for English Language Learners/Limited English Proficient students), IDEA (special education funding stipulated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), or other targeted allocations for specific initiatives such as Summer Rising. 
    • Charter schools, Pre-Kindergarten Programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, and Mandated Individual Education Plan (IEP) related services for students with disabilities (e.g., speech teachers, occupational therapists, and 1:1 paraprofessionals) are funded separately. 
    • Schools in District 75 do not receive FSF because the funding is based on a class model, not a student per capita. 
  • FSF provides principals/schools with substantial flexibility to tailor spending to school and community needs. Most of the funds are spent on teachers and school administration. Funds can also be used for guidance counselors, social workers, after-school programs and classroom resources and materials. 

Fair Student Funding: How Does it Work?

  • FSF is a weighted student funding formula – meaning funding is driven by students and their needs.
  • All schools receive a “Foundation” – a base amount of funding that every school gets for required school services like a principal.
  • Then the formula applies funding on a per student basis – a school’s register is multiplied by a per capita  amount, with student need weights  - a proportion of the per capita based on how much it costs to educate a student with those needs, and where applicable, a high school portfolio weight - a per capita to schools designated as  CTE, Specialized, and Transfer High Schools. 
  • Lastly, we provide funding for Collective Bargaining – we then grow school budgets to keep up with rising costs and reflect the impact of contractual salary increases. 

Fair Student Funding Weights

  • Grade Weights - Every student receives a grade weight determined by his or her grade level (K-5, 6-8, or 9-12)
  • Needs Weights - In addition, students are eligible for needs-based weights for the following characteristics:
    • Academic Intervention, based on:
      • Poverty for schools beginning before 4th grade. Poverty is used to estimate academic need when test results are not available for incoming students.
      • Lower student achievement upon entry for schools beginning in 4th grade or later – Incoming test scores predict academic need.
      • Over-Age Under-Credited ‘Over The Counter’ (OTC) status.
    • English Language Learner status, based on:
      • Students served in English as a New Language (ENL) and Bilingual programs.
      • Students with interrupted formal education (SIFE), which applies to ELLs who had academic interruptions prior to enrollment.
    • Special Education, based on:
      • Mandates for classroom instruction by a special education teacher in students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
      • The number of special education periods mandated per week and the intensity of those services for each student as indicated in the IEP.
    • Students in Temporary Housing, based on:
      • Families reported living in Doubled Up, Shelter, Hotel/Motel, or Other Temporary Living Situation on the Housing Questionnaire during the school year and data on students living in shelters.
    • Concentration of Needs, based on:
      • Schools with the highest needs when averaging their rank in each of the following categories: English Language Learners, Students with Disabilities, Academic need as determined by incoming test scores or economic need, Foster Care, Shelter, Economic Needs Index.
  • High School Portfolio Weights - In addition, high schools in the categories listed below are eligible for Portfolio weights for all their students:
    • Career and Technical Education (CTE) Designated High Schools: High Schools in which all students are engaged in NYC DOE-approved CTE programs of study
    • Specialized Academic: This category captures academically challenging high schools with supplementary instruction and assessments, including higher course/credit loads and AP courses.
    • Specialized Audition: All students within the school participate in the equivalent of a five-year sequence through two double periods daily of study in their art form. Students in these schools are admitted through a screening process that involves a performance audition or a portfolio review. Students take and pass a Comprehensive Exit Exam in the art form of choice in grade and receive the Arts Endorsed Diploma.
    • Transfer: Small high schools designed to re-engage students who have dropped out or are over-age and under-credited for their grade.

For details on all the FY 2025 Fair Student Funding weights, download this file. 

For more information, refer to the Fair Student Funding Guide.

Fair Student Funding Proposals 

  • The 2024-2025 School Budget Presentation provides the explanation of the proposed 2024-2025 Fair Student Funding Formula. This proposal is available in  English, Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, French, Haitian, Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Urdu for public review of the proposed changes to the formula concurrent to the public engagement and public comment process preceding the March 20, 2024 Panel for Educational Policy vote.

How The FSF Weights Work – If the Per Capita Were $1

 


The Fair Student Funding formula takes into account the instructional needs of each individual student within the school based on data in NYC Public School systems that store key information about students.

The graph above displays the different types of weights for two students. Ava is a 2nd grader and Myles is a 6th grader. 

The orange section shows the Grade Weight that they first receive.

  • Because Ava is a 2nd grade student, she is entitled to the K-5 grade weight of 1.0. 
  • Since Myles is a 6th grader, he is entitled to the grade weight of 1.08. 
  • If they were a high school student, they would receive a weight of 1.03.

Both students have individualized education programs (IEPs) requiring special education classroom instructional services (for Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS), Special Class (SC) and/or Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT)).

  • Ava’s Individualized Educational Program (IEP) states that more than 60% of Ava’s instructional program is to be spent in an ICT setting; therefore Ava is entitled to the “full time more inclusive” special education weight of 1.74, shown in navy blue.
  • Myles’ Individualized Educational Program (IEP) requires 20% of Myles’ instructional program be in an SETSS setting, therefore Sam is entitled to the <20% special education weight of 0.56, shown in navy blue.

Both Ava and Myles are classified as English Language Learners (ELLs) – shown in yellow.

  • Ava is a former multi-lingual learner who tested out of ELL status within the last 2 years.  Because New York State requires 2 additional years of English as a new language services for former ELLs, Ava is entitled to the K-5 ENL weight of 0.13.
  • Myles is also a multi-lingual learner.  Myles is enrolled at a bilingual program at his middle school and is entitled to the grade 6-8 bilingual weight of 0.55.

Both Ava and Myles are entitled to the Academic Intervention Services (AIS) weight, shown in red.

  • Ava’s family’s income is below the cutoff for the FSF Academic Intervention weight of .12 for students in poverty, shown in red on the left.
  • Myles entered a middle school serving students in grades 6-8 as a 6th grader with 5th grade test scores that were below proficiency.  As a result, he is entitled to the Academic Intervention Services weight of 0.35, shown in red on the right.

Both Ava and Myles are students in temporary housing (STH).  As such, they both receive the STH weight of .12, shown in green.

Ava attends a school with high concentrations of student needs, while Myles does not.

  • Ava attends a tier 3 school, the highest concentration of need, and is entitled to a weight of 0.12.
  • Myles' school did not get a concentration weight. His school did not qualify this year for the concentration weight because it is not ranked in the top 20% of schools with the highest percent of students with high needs.

    When you add all the pieces together, Ava’s allocation through the FSF Formula would total a weight of 3.23; while Myles’ allocation would total 2.66.  Because each weight of 1.0 is equal to $4,237; Ava’s weight of 3.23 is equal to approximately $13,686, while Myles’ weight of 2.66 is equal to approximately $11,270 under the FSF formula.

    Fair Student Funding Information for Schools

    Look in Detail at a School’s Fair Student Funding Allocation