New bill aims to address cost of migrant students in NY schools
Updated: Nov. 16, 2023, 12:37 p.m.|Published: Nov. 16, 2023, 12:18 p.m.
By Tribune News Service
By Ashley Hupfl | The Daily Gazette, Schenectady
Albany, N.Y. — State Sen. James Tedisco introduced legislation this week that will require the state Education Department to reimburse school districts for the costs they have incurred by accepting new students who come from the recent influx of asylum seekers upstate.
The Migrant Student Transfer Reimbursement Act would reimburse school districts for per-pupil expenses and any potential additional hiring of English as a Second Language teachers, social workers or bus drivers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average public school spending per student in New York is $26,571 — the highest in the nation.
Tedisco, R-Saratoga Springs, said the bill would require NYSED to evaluate each impacted school district’s budget and create a funding formula, and would only apply to new students who are a result of the state’s migrant crisis.
“Now we’re getting an influx of kids who are English as a Second Language or have special education needs,” Tedisco said. “All these costs are enhanced right now. It cannot fall back on the local taxpayers. That’s not fair. They passed school budgets. School boards did their best diligence they could to put their budget together based on what they knew.”
https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2023/11/new-bill-aims-to-address-cost-of-migrant-students-in-ny-schools.html
