Senator Liu pursues NYC school funding and class size reform

Senator Liu pushes Asian American history curriculum and renewed school funding formulas

State Senator John C. Liu, chair of the New York City Education Committee, is pressing to require Asian American history in public schools and to overhaul how New York calculates aid for city schools. He highlights wins like last year’s Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Education Equity Act, continued legislative efforts for required curriculum, and recent changes to the Foundation Aid formula to add funding for students in temporary housing, foster care, and English Language Learners.

The push comes as decades of advocacy led to a new citywide class size cap, 20 for K-5, 23 for grades 6-7, and 25 for high school. The Foundation Aid formula, which sets school funding citywide, is also under review to account for NYC’s higher cost of living by updating the Regional Cost Index and adding new “weights” for at-risk students. The incentive is twofold: rectifying historical lawsuits that found the city’s students deprived of basic education, and meeting equity promises in an increasingly diverse student population.

Full implementation of the mandated class size caps is now extended to 2030, requiring the city to hire teachers, expand facilities and comply by the deadline. Funding formula reforms will be debated in the upcoming legislative session, with Liu calling for further changes. Lawmakers face a concrete timeline: class size compliance by 2030, and possible new aid weights for the next school year.

→ Full class size compliance is required by 2030; watch for Foundation Aid formula debates in the next legislative session.

(PoliticsNY)

Four more

• President Trump schedules Monday meeting with Mayor Mamdani at Gracie Mansion · For the first time since the U.N. General Assembly began, President Trump will meet NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the mayoral residence, with issues “affecting New York City and New Yorkers” on the agenda, according to City Hall. Specific topics and details were withheld by the mayor’s office. (City & State) → The meeting is scheduled for Monday at Gracie Mansion.

• City Council moves to dismiss lawsuit tying it to underpaid paraprofessionals · While paraprofessionals working with disabled students start at about $34,000, with many reportedly struggling or even homeless, the City Council has filed to dismiss a suit targeting its role after it unanimously passed new pay legislation this summer. Council Speaker Julie Menin called existing salaries “shameful.” (NY1) → Who holds this power?: How NYC City Government Works

• Councilmember Santosuosso advances Bay Ridge rezoning after ballot measures target low affordable housing districts · After November’s voter-approved measures fast-tracked affordable housing in NYC’s 12 slowest districts, Bay Ridge’s Kayla Santosuosso now moves forward her own rezoning, aiming to get the area off the “affordable housing basement” list. The next steps will shape subsequent building permits. (City Limits) → How does a rezoning actually get decided?: NYC Rezoning and ULURP Guide

• Judge orders city to release Mayor’s communications with Rent Guidelines Board in rent freeze suit · Landlords challenging the June rent freeze for nearly 1 million stabilized units will now see all written contact between City Hall and the board from Jan. 1–June 25, as ordered by a Staten Island judge. The landlords claim Mayor Mamdani influenced the freeze decision. (NY1) → Not sure your own unit is stabilized?: How Rent Stabilization Works

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