Yonkers Insider: Yonkers City Hall Beat: Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano: ***NEWS RELEASE***: YONKERS MAYOR SPANO ADVOCATES STATE OFFICIALS TO AMEND REGIONAL COST INDEX.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

YONKERS MAYOR SPANO ADVOCATES STATE OFFICIALS TO AMEND REGIONAL COST INDEX.

Grouping Yonkers with Downstate Region Would Provide Approximately $24 Million to Yonkers Public Schools District Annually. 

 

YONKERS, NY – March 25, 2024 – Continuing his push for additional State funding, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano calls on New York State representatives to change Yonkers’ Regional Cost Index (RCI). The Regional Cost Index is a key component of Foundation Aid meant to adjust for geographic variations in the cost of education resources. For nearly 20 years, Yonkers has been grouped with smaller local economies in Upstate and Western New York, such as Sullivan and Ulster Counties, putting the Yonkers School District at a disadvantage for Foundation Aid.

 

“Located in Westchester County, which has the highest median house prices of any county in the state and nearby wealthy school districts, such as Bronxville and Scarsdale, competing for, and retaining professional talent, can be financially challenging for us here,” said Mayor Spano. “Yonkers, which is a downstate district, should be compared to other downstate districts, along with Long Island and New York City.”

 

Over 70% of experienced teacher hires made by Yonkers regularly come from the New York City district, indicating a common labor force region, which was the original reason for lumping New York City and Long Island together. New York State’s Regional Cost Index has not changed since 2006. Grouping Yonkers, where 74% of the students live in poverty, with the New York City and Long Island RCI region, would bring approximately $24 million more to the Yonkers School District annually.

 

Mayor Spano argues regional cost factors used in building aid are updated annually and classified by county, which provides a much more accurate assessment of cost for each district rather than the current Foundation Aid. Westchester County’s building aid regional cost factor is currently the second highest in the state and higher than both the Long Island counties, which receive a higher Foundation Aid RCI. This is a giant misalignment in the formulas and is why Yonkers is ranked only 232nd in the state in Foundation Aid per Pupil, based on the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Executive School Runs. Even if the RCI Index was adjusted to equal that of New York City and Long Island, Yonkers would still only be ranked 195th.

 

Mayor Spano added, “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel to find a better model. Our Regional Cost Index should have a carve-out, similar to what the State did for minimum wage in Long Island, New York City, and Westchester. At the very least, we need the recognition that the towns or cities that border New York City to the north compete for professional talent at similar costs.”

 

Mayor Spano continued, “While the Yonkers School District is a model urban district, achieving the highest graduation rate of the Big 5 for the last eight years, it has done so with non-recurrent revenue. We are edging towards severe cuts without guaranteed funding. We’ve come to the limit of what the City and our residents can afford. I ask New York State to reassess the formula that can guarantee reoccurring aid to our students.”