New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s election-year budget proposal on Tuesday included record investments in education to the tune of more than $39 billion — but that doesn’t necessarily mean New York City schoolkids will come out ahead.

Advocates are concerned that the governor’s plan fails to address tweaks made to a key formula ahead of the current academic year, which resulted in hundreds of millions dollars less than the city’s school system had expected to receive from the state.

Without further changes, even though the overall total was higher, the city could see itself shortchanged again this year when the dollars are divvied up among the state’s roughly 700 school districts.

“The formula itself is more than 15 years old, relies on outdated and incomplete measures of student need, and has not evolved to reflect rising costs, particularly in large urban districts,” the Coalition for Equitable Education Funding, an alliance of more than 120 advocacy organizations, wrote in a statement.

“Without further changes, New York City students will continue to be shortchanged.”

Overall, the executive budget proposed $39.3 billion for school aid next year — an increase of 4.3%. That would include a $779 million boost to Foundation Aid, the state’s formula for allocating funding equitably to local school districts.

Advocates have for years warned that Foundation Aid had become outdated, prompting the governor and state Legislature last year to finally modernize how the formula accounts for poverty.

But the same advocates warned that more changes were needed, such as allocating more money to districts where large numbers of students are homeless or in foster care. They also pushed the state to consider the particularly high cost of living in the city.

Those proposals were left on the cutting room floor, and the result was that the city school system — which had pushed for the revisions — ironically received $314 million less last year than it would have if the state had made no changes at all.

Advocates say children are bearing the brunt of the shortfall, and fear the coming fiscal year will see the same outcome.

“These groups of students often miss more school than their peers, and their academic outcomes are abysmal,” said Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children, part of the school aid coalition. “It’s important for districts to get the resources they need to ensure that students who are homeless and students in foster care are getting academic and social-emotional support to succeed in school.”

Hochul continued Tuesday to insist the funding was appropriate. On top of the regular growth of Foundation Aid, the governor’s plan also includes a guarantee that each school district receives at least a 1% increase in assistance — even if the per pupil formula would have otherwise resulted in a smaller allocation.

“This budget invests in the next generation with nearly $40 billion in school aid, and we’re continuing to ensure that higher-need districts are funded appropriately,” Hochul said during her budget address at the state Capitol in Albany.

“After 16 long years of previous administrations coming up short, I made the decision to fully fund Foundation Aid ,giving schools certainty without significantly driving up local taxes,” the governor added. “That’s why we’re once again increasing Foundation Aid on top of the amount schools would receive under the existing formula.”

State lawmakers who represent parts of the five boroughs are likely to push for more changes as budget negotiations continue. Two bills — sponsored by state Sen. John Liu, D-Queens, chairman of the New York City Education Committee, and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, D-Brooklyn — may offer a first glimpse at their priorities.

The lawmakers want to update the formula’s regional cost index, which is supposed to account for differences in costs and salaries across the state, but has not been revised in two decades in the city and on Long Island. They also want the formula to better account for the 150,000 local students who lived in temporary housing last year.

“NYC schoolkids will continue to be shortchanged unless we fix this formula by updating the regional cost index and fully accounting for our disproportionate number of unhoused and foster care students,” Liu said after the governor’s address.

A city schools spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment. In a statement on the governor’s plan, Mayor Mamdani did not address K-12 education funding directly but praised Hochul’s investments in early-childhood education, which will include money to stabilize 3-K and launch “2-Care.”

“We are just beginning our full review of the governor’s budget and will have more to say as we dig into the details,” Mamdani said. “Our guiding principle, however, is clear: Fiscal responsibility must go hand in hand with protecting working families, preserving our social safety net, and building a city that works for the many — not just the few.”

A final state budget is due this spring.

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