“We have more students who are coming to school who are not potty-trained.”
Marie Wiles was blunt about the increasingly basic needs of her pupils. She has served as superintendent of the Guilderland Central Schools, a suburb of Albany, for 14 years.
“It’s a big discussion. Toileting needs are a part of the conversation now along with managing behaviors. It’s generally taking students longer to learn school behaviors. It’s a reality of our day to day. It’s everywhere, not just here,” she said.
Her concerns are not isolated. Across the state, New York state educators have reported a sharp increase in student needs, particularly in areas that extend beyond traditional academic challenges. Schools are dealing with higher instances of social-emotional struggles, developmental delays, and behavioral issues that require more specialized interventions.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, educators from urban, suburban, and rural school districts tell Capital Tonight that the array and depth of student needs have increased substantially. Many attribute this to disrupted early childhood education, limited social interaction during critical developmental years, and increased economic hardship at home.
Rising Costs and Funding Challenges
“Our students have greater needs, and our costs are greater than they used to be,” according to David Little, executive director of the Rural Schools Association.
Jennifer Pyle, executive director of the Conference of Big 5 School Districts—which represents New York City, Yonkers, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, as well as Albany, Mount Vernon, and Utica—highlighted a difficult financial reality. Some districts chose to spend one-time COVID grant funding on recurring expenses like social workers, counselors, and psychologists to meet urgent student needs.
“We receive criticism, of course, for doing that…but it was something where we didn’t have a choice. This is what our kids needed,” she said. “And a lot of those positions are now on the chopping block.”
As 2025 approaches, New York state educators are facing a trifecta of change: the loss of COVID-era money, the retooling of the Foundation Aid formula—the primary formula for distributing state aid—and possible disruption from the incoming Trump administration.
Wiles is worried.
“We may be on the brink of a perfect storm,” she said.
Possible Federal Changes and Policy Shifts
Regarding changes discussed by the Trump administration, Robert Lowry, the long-time deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, agrees there’s a lot for school districts in liberal states like New York to be concerned about. But he warns against pre-panicking.
“The president-elect has proposed eliminating the U.S. Education Department, something that I will emphasize to school officials, doesn’t mean that all the programs administered by the Education Department would go away,” Lowry said.
The elimination of the department would require congressional action, but even proposed changes create uncertainty for school districts that depend on federal funding streams.
Lowry noted that the country didn’t have a federal Education Department until 1979. Instead, major federal education funding programs like Title I, which provides compensatory education targeted to disadvantaged children; Title III, which provides support for multilingual students; and Title VII, which provides support for civil rights issues, were administered through other agencies.
“What we’re hearing is troubling. Obviously, Title I funding for schools with low-income students, IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) funding for special needs students, those are two huge areas,” said Jennifer Pyle. “Fifty percent of the kids in special ed [in New York state] are in my eight districts. Sixty-seven percent of the English language learners are in my eight districts. Forty-three percent of the kids in the state are in my eight districts, and the bulk of them are poor.”
The Human Impact: Students and Families at Risk
Beyond financial concerns, New York state educators are also worried about the human impact of potential federal policy shifts. Pyle is monitoring the possible elimination of school lunch programs and summer meal initiatives, which could leave thousands of low-income students without reliable access to food.
Additionally, changes in immigration policy under the new administration are creating fear among migrant families.
“Anecdotally, there are parents coming into school expressing their concerns about the safety of their children. Sending their children to school and what the implications will be for their families,” Pyle said. “They want to keep their families intact and not knowing what will happen, which is deeply troubling. Their fears are reasonable given the rhetoric that we’re hearing.”
Rick Timbs, executive director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, believes that beyond financial and immigration concerns, a broader ideological battle is playing out in education.
“It’s not just local control. It’s parental control, it’s educational control,” he explained.
Timbs pointed to movements across the country—including in New York—where local groups have attempted to exert more influence over school curricula, book selections, and classroom discussions.
Debates Over Curriculum and Cultural Issues
The ongoing debate about curriculum content has intensified in recent years, particularly around topics like race, gender identity, and history.
“Look at the movement, for example, to ban certain books in school libraries. What’s actually happening is that there are attempts across states, including New York state, for more local control, more local say on what happens and what doesn’t happen, what’s allowed or not allowed, what is taught, what is not taught, what inferences are made or not made within public schools.”
The New York state Board of Regents’ “New Pathways to Graduation” is one response to these pressures, aiming to provide multiple ways for students to earn a diploma.
To some conservatives, these changes do not go far enough.
“I’m a fairly moderate conservative. I have three daughters, the last one is in college and just started. But I found myself having to deprogram them every day coming back from school,” Bill O’Reilly, a newspaper columnist and Republican strategist for the November Team, told Capital Tonight.
While O’Reilly supports educational change, he thinks New York should have more autonomy under the Trump administration due to the conservative emphasis on states’ rights.
“On paper, it’s probably less of a freakout than people think. The other thing is, how much could they actually pull off? There are so many issues out there to go after,” he said.
Health Care and School Funding Uncertainty
Beyond education-specific concerns, Lowry is also monitoring the impact of potential federal cuts to health care programs that support children and families in New York.
“I’m no expert in health care, but if I add it up correctly, we use over $75 billion in federal money to support Medicaid, Child Health Plus, and the Essential Plan.”
If that funding is reduced, schools could feel the effects, as districts rely on Medicaid reimbursement for special education services.
Foundation Aid: The Biggest Concern
“My biggest worry honestly is about Foundation Aid because that is a much bigger part of our operating budget than our federal dollars are,” Wiles explained.
When this year’s budget was enacted, New York had invested a record $35.9 billion into school aid, including $24.9 billion in Foundation Aid. However, the formula for distributing these funds is under review.
The governor commissioned the Rockefeller Institute of Government to study the outdated Foundation Aid formula, and their recommendations—expected in December—could determine how funding is allocated in the future.
Districts could feel a financial hit from even small changes to the 26-year-old formula.
“Buffalo receives 73% of their money from the state, 16% from federal. Their local share is so low. If the state doesn’t come through with the funding and the federal government fails to deliver or cuts back, there will be nowhere to go,” Pyle explained.
Meanwhile, student needs continue to grow, with districts like Guilderland expanding special education programs to accommodate more children.
“School districts may have fewer students, but we have a greater percentage of students with significant needs,” Wiles said.
All these competing pressures are leaving New York state educators feeling increasingly pessimistic.
“Every year since 2016, we’ve asked how optimistic or pessimistic are you…regarding your district’s ability to maintain adequate services for students and this year it was 82% pessimistic,” Lowry said.
Wiles summed up the uncertainty facing New York schools in 2025:
“There’s just a long list of unknowns and they’re all about big things,” she said.
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