City schools are set to get an additional 4 percent, or $867 million all told, under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 2015–16 spending plan, which he presented on May 7. The funds will cover scheduled pay increases for UFT members under the 2014 contract, expanded pre-K and middle school after-school programs, and supplemental aid for Renewal and community schools.

Now the stage is set for a fight to restore Teacher’s Choice in the final spending plan, which must be approved by the mayor and the City Council by July 1. As in previous years, the executive budget did not include money for Teacher’s Choice, a program traditionally funded by the City Council.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said that given the city’s stronger financial position, the final city budget should provide a substantial increase for a program that is an invaluable resource for educators. “Teachers should not be spending hundreds of dollars of their own money on classroom supplies,” Mulgrew said. “Why are they the last to benefit from the economic recovery?”

Teacher’s Choice reimburses teachers, secretaries, guidance counselors and paraprofessionals for classroom spending up to a set amount. Last year, teachers received $77 each, down from a high of $220 before the 2007–08 recession.

Teams of local educators are visiting every City Council member in May or early June to talk about why Teacher’s Choice matters to them, while others are using social media to get their message out, said UFT Director for Legislation and Political Action Paul Egan.

Although the mayor warned in his executive budget address that the city could face a downturn in the future, no such gloom was evident in the numbers. The city has been able to set aside record reserves and fund an aggressive 10-year capital plan, including $23.4 billion to build and improve school buildings. On the day before the mayor’s address, City Comptroller Scott Stringer said the city was far outpacing the rest of the country in output and job growth.

The executive budget has additional cost of nearly $400 million for salaries in 2016 as compared to this year, most of that representing the new UFT contract. The budget will add $114 million for universal pre-K for some 70,000 4-year-olds, and it will invest $163 million in middle school after-school programs.

Under the mayor’s budget, there will be an extra $50 million next year and $76 million the following year to support 130 Renewal and community schools. The 94 schools in the city’s School Renewal Program — many targeted by the state for possible receivership down the road — will get roughly $1.6 million each over their basic budget for additional tutoring, counseling, summer programs and AP classes.

The mayor’s financial plan includes funds to hire more special education teachers, based on a projected increase in special education students next year, as well as 63 new guidance counselors and 150 new ESL teachers to comply with new state mandates.