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A Board Member's Perspective
The Funding Gap in Our Own Backyard: Why Do Similar Long Island School Districts Face Different Financial Realities?
By Dr. John J. Galligan
When the topic of public education on Long Island comes up, the conversation often turns to taxes, budgets, reserves, the Property Tax Cap, and state aid. Each matters. But beneath those discussions is a question that deserves more attention: Why do school districts serving similar communities in the same region operate with such different financial capacities?
As board of education trustees, we face many of the same challenges. We work to preserve programs, support students and staff, maintain facilities, respond to rising costs, and remain accountable to the taxpayers we represent. Yet we do not all begin that work from the same financial starting point.
Two neighboring districts can serve comparable numbers of students, operate in the same regional economy, and share the same commitment to educational excellence while having substantially different resources available to meet those responsibilities. Understanding why requires looking at the financial structures that shape each district’s choices.
School funding is often described simply: local property taxes fund schools, and New York State provides aid to supplement local revenue. In practice, a district’s financial capacity is shaped by property wealth, state aid formulas, historical funding patterns, mandated expenditures, and state fiscal policies. Together, those factors can create very different realities for districts only a few miles apart.
I recently examined this issue in a study published in the Journal for Leadership and Instruction. The research, The Reality of Funding Quality Schools: A 2025 Quantitative Examination of State Aid and Local Revenue Structures of Long Island Public School Districts, analyzed twelve public school districts within a single Long Island township. Its purpose was to better understand why districts operating within the same regional economy can have such different levels of financial capacity.
Among the districts examined, state aid ranged from approximately $8,000 to more than $27,000 per student. Enrollment alone did not explain the difference: districts educating similar numbers of students sometimes received substantially different levels of state support. At the same time, local property taxes remained the primary source of revenue for most districts studied, underscoring the continuing importance of local property wealth.
These differences matter as districts contend with rising contractual, health insurance, transportation, special education, facility, and technology costs, along with changing student needs. The Property Tax Cap also limits how much additional local revenue a board can raise without seeking voter approval to exceed the allowable levy limit.
For trustees, the challenge is familiar. Our communities expect rigorous academic programs, safe and effective facilities, strong student support services, meaningful opportunities beyond the classroom, and a school system positioned for long-term success. We share those goals, but the financial framework within which we pursue them is not uniform.
A district with greater state support or stronger local property wealth may have more flexibility to absorb rising costs, preserve programs, and address capital needs. Another district may pursue those same goals with equal commitment while operating within much tighter fiscal constraints.
That is why regional comparisons require care. A tax rate alone does not tell the whole story. Neither does a total budget, per-pupil expenditure, reserve level, or state aid figure considered in isolation. Meaningful comparisons require consideration for each district’s property wealth, tax base, enrollment, aid, local revenue capacity, and community circumstances together.
Understanding those differences can strengthen our work as trustees. Long Island’s districts serve families who want strong schools, employ professionals deeply committed to students, and face many of the same mandates, economic pressures, staffing challenges, and facility needs. The more useful question is whether the funding system gives every district a reasonable and sustainable opportunity to meet its students’ educational needs.
Perhaps continued discussion of Foundation Aid, state aid formulas, local revenue capacity, and the long-term effects of fiscal policies can deepen our understanding of the challenges across our region. Learning more about one another’s financial realities can also help district leaders to share ideas, communicate with their communities, and bring an informed regional perspective to conversations with policymakers.
We govern different communities, but we share a commitment to public education. Recognizing differences in how our schools are funded does not diminish the success of any district. It strengthens our understanding of the system in which all of us operate.
If we collectively recognize the importance of a funding system that is sustainable, equitable, and capable of supporting high-quality public education for the next generation across Long Island, there is value in continuing that conversation together. By continuing to share perspectives and supporting one another’s efforts, we can strengthen the broader conversation about the future of our schools.
Source: Galligan, J. J. (2026). The Reality of Funding Quality Schools: A 2025 Quantitative Examination of State Aid and Local Revenue Structures of Long Island Public School Districts. Journal for Leadership and Instruction.
About the Author: John J. Galligan, Ed.D. is a trustee on the Miller Place Union Free School District Board of Education. He has more than 25 years of experience in public education within the Sachem Central School District, where he has served as an administrator, instructional coach, teacher, and athletic coach
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