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A4369Assembly2019-2020 Session

Make School Budgets Public

Official title

“Requires school districts to make their budgets and an itemized summary of expenditures and revenue available in printed form and on the internet”

Sponsor Steven EnglebrightAD-4+2 co-sponsorsAffects Education
Status
In Assembly Committee
Education
Impact
3/10
Low
Passage
0%

Bill progress

Step 2 of 7

In committee · Education

What's happening

This bill requires most New York school districts to publicly share detailed, itemized budget, expenditure, and revenue information.

Why it matters

  1. Increased transparency. By requiring schools to publish detailed, itemized summaries of budgets, expenditures, and revenues, the bill gives parents, taxpayers, and advocates clearer insight into how school funds are allocated and spent.

  2. Better public oversight and accountability. With this information publicly accessible (both in print and online), communities gain the tools to question, compare, and influence school district financial decisions, potentially leading to more efficient or equitable use of resources.

  3. Potential impact on educational equity. Making detailed financial data available can highlight disparities between districts, encouraging conversations and policy efforts aimed at fairer distribution of resources, especially in underfunded schools.

  4. New administrative requirements for districts. The bill introduces additional reporting and publication duties, which could require districts to invest in new systems or staff time, impacting administrative budgets and workflows.

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Who cares

  • School district administrators

    Covered districts would have to compile, publish and timely update their budgets and itemized summaries of all expenditures and revenue, in print and on district websites if they operate one.

  • Parents and school district taxpayers

    They would gain access to printed and, where available, online information detailing district budgets, spending and revenue.

  • State education commissioner

    The bill would authorize the commissioner to issue rules and regulations needed to implement the disclosure requirements.

  • City school districts in cities with at least one million residents

    These districts would be exempt from the new requirements.

Headline styles

Make School Budgets Public

Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.

Sponsors

Primary sponsor
Steven Englebright

Assembly Member · Assembly District 4

History

  1. Referred to education
  2. Referred to education

Full text

1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗

STATE OF NEW YORK

4369

2019-2020 Regular Sessions

IN ASSEMBLY

February 4, 2019

Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, RIVERA, GALEF -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, to require school districts to make an itemized summary of their budgets, expenditures and revenue available to the public

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 1501-d to read as follows:

§ 1501-d. Availability of budget, expenditure and revenue information to the public. Every school district, except a city school district in a city having a population of one million or more, shall compile, publish, update in a timely manner and make available to the public, the school district budget, and an itemized summary of all expenditures of and revenue received by such district. Such information shall be made available in printed form and on the school district internet website, if such a website is operated by the school district. The commissioner is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as shall be necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of September next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD08819-01-9

Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.

Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.