Our fight just hit the media! CLICK HERE to read about it in the Wall Street Journal, 
and CLICK HERE to read a great piece in DNAinfo. 

 

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According to NYC's Department of Education: Fair Student Funding (FSF) aims to achieve
three major goals:

 

• improving student achievement

• funding schools equitably

• making school budgets more transparent.
   

CLICK HERE for the FSF Resource Guide and CLICK HERE for more about the DOE and budgets.

 

Despite the above statement,  Brooklyn Tech receives  87% of it's FSF budget - the same percentage it's received for the past four years. It is also the lowest percentage of funding of the specialized highs schools:

 

• High School of Math, Science & Engineering: 123.61% 

• High School of American Studies: 115.16%

• Queens High School for the Sciences: 107.30%

• Brooklyn Latin : 100.46% 

• Staten Island Tech: 97.28%

• Stuyvesant: 96.59%

• Bronx Science: 88.04%

• Brooklyn Tech: 87.37%

 

CLICK HERE or the button at the right to sign our petition asking for fair student funding
for Brooklyn Tech. 

 

 

This year, because of budgetary shortfalls Brooklyn Tech students lost:

• sections of AP Calculus BC,

• AP Statistics

• AP Computer Science

• AP Psychology

• AP French (no longer offered at all)

• Forensic Science

• other CTE electives that would provide students (especially seniors) a full day of instruction 
   

With a more fair share of Fair Student Funding, Brooklyn Tech, along with being able to provide students with more classes, would also have funds for:

 

• Increased technology support 

• Additional guidance counselors 

• Additional parent coordinators to address the needs of 10,000 plus parents

• Per session compensation for after school academic activities such as debate, science Olympiad,
  and more 

• Funding to support arts enrichment including fall play, spring musical, numerous concerts 
  and other events

• Support for underperforming and special needs students

• and much more

 

 

At the suggestion of Chancellor Farina and with Principal Asher's support, this fall three PTA exec board members met with Raymond Orlando, the CFO of the DOE about Brooklyn Tech's Fair Student Funding (FSF) issues. He brought additional DOE staff to the table to the discussion.
 

PTA QUESTIONS: 

• Why has Brooklyn Tech only received 87% of its fair student funding budget for the past four years?

• Why does Tech receive the lowest percentage of all specialized high schools?

• What can be done to rectify the above? 

•  

  DOE ANSWERS:

• There was no set formula, based on student need or academics, in place when percentages were originally assigned. Since funds from Albany never materialized, school budgetary allotments were not increased. 

• The Mayor recently started a new initiative and DOE funds are going to Renewal schools. Tech will not be receiving any additional funds this year. 

• There is no interest or intent to balance distribution among specialized high schools going forward. 
   

• SOME OF THE DOE'S SUGGESTIONS FOR BROOKLYN TECH:

• Corporate sponsorship

• Local business donations

• Parents lobbing Albany for more support

• Increased PTA and Alumni Foundation fundraising 

 

 

 

 

At this point, and for the foreseeable future, Brooklyn Tech students are, and will continue
to be underfunded at the expense of other schools. For more information please contact: bthsfunding@gmail.com