City99s FY26 DOE plan adds seats and teachers but leaves gaps on special education, head start and mental health

New York City99s executive financial plan includes a larger FY26 Department of Education budget and targeted investments to hire teachers and shore up early childhood programs, but parents, advocates and DOE witnesses told the Council99s joint finance and education hearing that the plan stops short of meeting urgent needs for preschool special education, related services, Head Start continuity and school medical and mental-health supports.

At the hearing, Chancellor Melissa AvilE9s Ramos and DOE finance and program leaders outlined an FY26 DOE operating budget of about $34.4 billion, a nearly $860 million increase over the preliminary plan. The executive plan funds 3,700 new classroom teaching positions to comply with the state class-size mandate and includes an initial $150 million of city funding for that work plus $200 million in later years; DOE officials said they expect additional state contracts for class-size work.

Chancellor AvilE9s Ramos emphasized the administration99s investments in early literacy, expanded high school career pathways and a new 93NYCPS Cares94 set of student safety and wellness initiatives. But deputy and division leaders repeatedly acknowledged areas where the administration still needs more funding or faces federal and state uncertainties.

Advocates and parent leaders repeatedly pressed DOE officials for additional, predictable money for preschool special education and related services, citing long wait lists and service gaps. Deputy Chancellor Christina Foti told council members the department currently reports roughly 28,202 preschoolers with IEPs in the system and that about 616 preschoolers were waiting for a mandated preschool-placement seat at the time of the hearing. Foti said DOE expects seats thanks to a $55 million baseline investment included in the executive plan, but advocacy groups said the baseline is not enough to eliminate persistent delays in evaluations and related services.

DOE deputy leaders also described risks posed by federal uncertainty. DOE99s team said the system relies on more than $2 billion in federal funds that cover programs ranging from school breakfast and lunch to Title I and IDEA supports; the department said it is monitoring federal proposals closely and is developing contingency plans to prioritize the most vulnerable students if federal funding is reduced.

Head Start funding and vouchers were a focus as well. DOE and administration witnesses said the city had applied for new Head Start grants and that the administration committed additional city dollars to sustain federally funded delegate Head Start programs for the coming year. DOE staff said their current Head Start grant was about $78 million and that the city had applied for additional early Head Start seats. Members asked for clarity about the status of thousands of ACS-funded childcare vouchers; DOE deferred to ACS for the specific voucher counts and impacts but said it is coordinating to route families to contracted seats if voucher funding shifts.

Parents and advocates pressed for more out-year baselining rather than single-year extensions. The executive plan baselined some formerly federal programs94for example, arts education and parts of early childhood funding94but left other items funded for a single year or at risk of future cuts. Council members raised summer programming, student success centers and restorative-justice funding as examples of priorities the city should baseline so schools and community partners can make multi-year plans.

Multiple council members and parent advocates highlighted long-term growth in legal costs tied to out-of-district tuition and due-process complaints (Carter/ OB4Connor cases). General counsel Liz Vladeck and DOE staff said recent steps to expand public-school special-education placements and increase rates for related services had already reduced the number of due-process complaints; Vladeck reported a 30% decrease in due-process filings this year compared with prior levels, and said more in-house capacity for specialized placements is the most direct way to lower high-cost tuition payments.

Student and community testimony filled the hearing. Dozens of students and community groups urged investments in school-based mental health clinics, youth employment and 93restorative justice94 programs that keep students in school and out of punitive discipline. A group of middle- and high-school students from District 18 and School District 2 also testified about a school-linked food-justice program, Seeds in the Middle, asking for expanded funding for student farm-stands and nutrition education.

What it means going forward

The executive plan marks a step toward addressing class size and early-childhood gaps, but council members and outside advocates repeatedly told DOE leaders the current plan underinvests in special education seats, related services, Head Start contingency funding and school-based mental health. DOE officials said they are working urgently to verify numbers, secure state and federal grant receipts, and finalize adopted-budget requests, and urged the council to continue to prioritize baselining at least some of the programs that are now funded for a single year.

Outlook and next steps: Council hearings and budget negotiations in the coming weeks will focus on whether the mayor and DOE will agree to baseline additional investments for preschool special education, the mental-health continuum and student-success centers, and whether the city will move to rebalance capital funds and operating dollars so that the spatial needs created by the class-size law are addressed alongside urgent staffing and service needs for the city99s most vulnerable students.