Thanks to some tweaking from city officials, this year nearly all of the city's public schools will be eligible for Title 1 federal funding. To receive funding, 60% of students needed to be eligible for free or reduced lunches at the school. Now, just 40% would need to meet that criteria, including perennially highly rated Stuyvesant High School.
Though the school receives about $300,000 a year in donations from parents, the school pushed families to fill out free lunch forms to make sure they were eligible for their share of funding. Stuyvesant parent's association head Larry Wood said despite the donations, many families are struggling with the costs of living in the city. He told the Times, "Many of the parents are first-generation immigrants, and they are struggling to get by. They might be highly educated overseas, but for whatever reason, they are doing jobs here—like opening a restaurant or something like that—that do not earn them the same kind of living." The push worked, and the school is now eligible for $1.5 million in Title 1 funding.
The new eligibility standards come as a blessing to many public schools, which are facing at least a 4.9% budget cut, though Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said it could be "significantly greater." Stuyvesant has already had to cut a few guidance and college counselors. However, the funding is supposed to be used to help struggling, poor students succeed, not to buttress other forms of funding. The school is currently running on a budget of $17 million.
