THE WESTCHESTER BRIEF
Monday, May 25, 2026
Yonkers has a 90% graduation rate. Albany's funding formula is still failing it.
The Yonkers Board of Education met this week to discuss closing School 21, a neighborhood elementary on Lee Avenue. The district is staring at a $101 million structural budget gap for the 2026–27 school year. Superintendent Aníbal Soler Jr. said publicly what most local officials won't: this gap is not the result of mismanagement. It is the result of a broken funding formula that Albany has not fixed.
The $101 million gap
Yonkers Public Schools serves 23,000+ students. 73% are economically disadvantaged. 22% have disabilities. 13% are English Language Learners. The district has achieved a 90% graduation rate — the highest among New York's five largest city school systems. That performance is being rewarded with a funding formula that does not reflect what it actually costs to educate this student population.
Three things are driving the gap: the state's Foundation Aid Formula, which uses outdated enrollment and demographic data to calculate district funding; special education costs that have risen 50% in 4 years; and healthcare costs that no district can control. Mayor Spano traveled to Albany to make the case for more funding. Superintendent Soler went with him. They came back without a resolution.
Why it matters: Closing School 21 would be a symptom treatment. The disease is a funding formula that consistently undervalues the districts with the highest needs. As long as Albany doesn't fix the formula, this is not the last school district that will face this choice.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WESTCHESTER
Primary races are heating up. Democratic primary day is June 23, with early voting starting June 13. Two competitive legislative races are on the ballot — including one that could flip the only Republican seat on the Board of Legislators. Full preview Thursday.
Westchester earned a AAA bond rating. Both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch issued the county their highest possible rating, citing strong financial management and healthy reserves. The rating comes despite a $197.7M budget gap the county closed earlier this year through 8% departmental cuts and 180 position eliminations.
Con Ed summer bills may surprise you. While the PSC approved Con Edison rate increases earlier this year, Westchester residential customers are projected to see average summer 2026 bills decrease approximately 2.8% — while NYC customers see increases. The 2027 gas rate increase of 7.2% is still coming.
ONE MORE THING
The Foundation Aid Formula is a public document. So is the per-pupil funding calculation for every district in New York State. If you want to understand exactly how much less Yonkers gets per student compared to a wealthier district next door, that data is on the NYSED website. The numbers make the argument better than any editorial.
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