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Council Member Justin Brannan's opening remarks for FY 2026 DOE budget hearing
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169 sec
Council Member Justin Brannan, Chair of the Committee on Finance, delivers opening remarks for the FY 2026 executive budget hearing focused on the Department of Education. He outlines the proposed budget figures, highlights key areas of interest, and sets the stage for the day's discussions.
- The DOE's proposed FY 2026 budget is $34.4 billion, representing 30% of the city's total budget
- Brannan notes the restoration and baselining of many programs previously funded by federal stimulus dollars
- He expresses approval for the $150 million investment to lower class sizes but highlights concerns about school food worker funding
- Key areas of focus for questions include federal and state level issues, school food budget, arts education, early childhood education, and the class size mandate
Justin Brannan
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Thank you, sergeant.
0:00:49
Okay, good morning everyone, and welcome to day seven of the FY twenty six executive budget hearings.
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I'm council member Justin Brannen.
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I chair the committee on finance.
0:00:59
Today's hearing, we're joined by the Department of Education, And I'm pleased to be joined by Councilmember Rita Joseph, Chair of the Committee on Education.
0:01:08
We've also been joined this morning by Councilmember Brooks Powers, Schulman, Lewis, Moya, and Gutierrez, as well as Sanchez.
0:01:18
Welcome, Chancellor, and welcome, Seeds in the Middle.
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I heard you guys on the radio this morning.
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You did a great job.
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Look forward to hearing from you today.
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Also joined by Councilmember Dinowitz.
0:01:30
Thank you all, Department of Education and Seeds in the Middle guys for joining us to answer our questions today.
0:01:37
So just to set the table, on 05/01/2025, the administration released the executive financial plan for FY '20 '6 to '20 '9 with a proposed FY '26 budget of $115,100,000,000.
0:01:51
DOE's proposed FY '20 '6 budget of 34,400,000,000.0 represents 30% of the administration's total proposed budget in the executive plan.
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This is an increase of $860,000,000 or 2.6 percent from the 33,500,000,000.0 budgeted in the FY '26 preliminary plan earlier this year.
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This increase primarily results from restoring many of the programs that were formerly funded by federal stimulus dollars and replaced by city dollars for FY '25 only.
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As of March 2025, Department of Education had 4,642 vacancies relative to its FY '25 budgeted headcount.
0:02:36
In the council's response to the preliminary budget, we called on the mayor to add millions in additional funding to DOE's budget across a range of programs from school based nurses to arts funding.
0:02:47
We are pleased to see the majority of these programs not only restored but also baselined.
0:02:52
We're also pleased to see the initial investment of $150,000,000 in the budget and $200,000,000 for subsequent out years to lower class sizes accounting for additional teacher hires.
0:03:04
While we are pleased to see a commitment to the classroom concerns, the administration did not include the ask for $10,000,000 additional funding for school food workers as data shows that the success of our students is not only in the classroom but also what they consume throughout the day.
0:03:20
My questions today will largely focus on issues at the federal and state levels, the school food budget, arts education in schools, early childhood education, and the class size mandate.
0:03:30
I now want to turn to my co chair for this hearing, council member Joseph, for her opening statement.