Last year BSGE petitioned for specialized academic funding, which is the amount of funding that other “high level” schools receive, such as Townsend Harris and specialized high schools. However, BSGE is classified to receive the same amount of funding as the average DOE public high school. In addition to that, as a result of our small size, we receive much less than the average public high school.
Students at BSGE unanimously believe our school deserves more funding for our IB curriculum to support the academic challenges and transitions in seventh and ninth grade into the IB program. “The transition hits hard, it’s not like any normal high school, they have it easier,” expressed an anonymous student.
Beyond IB, the lack of money impacts academic challenges for daily courses. post-COVID funding has unfortunately run out this year, causing the school to significantly reduce budgets across the departments. For example, the art department does not have enough money for materials this year, so the school has resorted to imposing a materials fee of 20 dollars for tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders Visual Arts students.
After interviewing school secretaries, teachers, and staff, they have collectively agreed that BSGE does not receive nearly enough funding for materials. Ms. Geri Anne, a school secretary, has stated that with more funding our school could get “newer tech and more supplies.” Many teachers have stated that students do not understand the way school funding works, stating misconceptions and rumors that occasionally float around the building. Dr. Page has specified that students, parents, and even staff don’t understand how our school actively receives funding.
In an interview, she explained to me how our school receives funding from the DOE and the government. The majority of our funding comes from tax levies. A tax levy is the federal action of legally seizing a person’s property to satisfy their tax debt. The DOE provides each school with a certain amount based on the needs of our students. “Each student is worth a certain amount,” expressed Dr. Page. A student’s weight is determined by many factors, such as IEPs or additional counseling, which increases this attached value.
Dr. Page states that teachers are our largest expense. Most of the teachers at our school are tenured teachers, causing our staff to be paid much more than the average NYC teacher. Our second highest expense is our IB program, which is quite expensive. Our school pays the International Baccalaureate around $12,000 yearly to keep our program—this is just the fee, excluding teacher training and student examinations.
Many students at our school have expressed their hope for more sports at BSGE, such as badminton, volleyball, tennis, baseball, football, and more. As our school unfortunately does not have a gym, we are unable to host indoor sports such as badminton. However, with more funding from the DOE, students are hopeful that at least more outdoor sports teams can be started at BSGE. From a student at BSGE, “We can play football anywhere with a field, we just need more money.”
