Spano seeking more state money for public schools

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano is planning to continue doing a lot of lobbying in Albany at least through this month during several trips to advocate for more state funding for Yonkers Public Schools. Spano planned to focus attention on elected state representatives.

The Yonkers Public Schools expect to spend about $814 for school year 2024-2025 with revenues of $728 million, a deficit of $86 million, according to the planne budget.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. Photo by Peter Katz.“We’ve come to the limit of what our city and our residents can afford,” Spano said. “Now, we are faced with a situation where the money is running out. I don’t want our taxpayers to shoulder the entire burden for this. We are respectfully requesting that New York state help fill the void left behind by the elimination of aid from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Local government cannot fill these inadequacies and as a result we will have many difficult decisions to make.”

Spano said that the City of Yonkers’ growing population over the last 10 years has meant the need for more equitable and inclusive funding to support new families. He said that jobs were put in place to navigate student learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result, there has been a staggering increase in services including mental health and transportation. Spano also said that there has been a 14% increase in special education enrollment over the last two years. However, much of that federal funding to support these services has dried up and the state could help supplement it, Spano believes.

In Yonkers, Spano is encouraging parents, teachers, PTA members, and labor unions to focus their attention on rallying for the necessary funding. He said that other cities in addition to Yonkers also are feeling the economic pinch.

“The clock is ticking. Yonkers isn’t alone here,” Spano said.

Yonkers had 29,594 students as of February and a 2024-2025 proposed school system budget with expenditures of more than $814 million. That represents an increase from 2023-2024 expenditures, which totaled just under $736 million.