NYC’s public schools ‘least efficient’ yet most expensive nationwide, commentary warns

Immigration alone can’t solve New York City’s public-school enrollment shortfall, a recent commentary concludes. 

“Since 2020, New York City public schools have lost nearly 70,000 students in grades K–12 – equivalent to 8 percent of their student population,” writes Danyela Souza Egorov, fellow at the Manhattan Institute and founder of Families for NY. 

“This drop occurred despite an influx of 48,000 recent immigrant students since the summer of 2022.” 

Egorov’s commentary, published in the City Journal, lamented the current “mismatch between falling attendance and rising budgets” making the city’s public-education system the costliest nationwide while failing students academically. 

“No city spends more to achieve such mediocre results for its children,” Egorov concluded. 

One-third of the city’s budget consumed on education 

Those “mediocre results” include more than 40% of third through eighth grade students failing to achieve reading and math proficiency citywide, Egorov notes. 

“Additionally, almost 35 percent of all students are chronically absent, defined as missing more than 10 percent of school days.” 

Even if students don’t attend, taxpayers are still backing a hefty bill for their enrollment – an estimated $41,000 per pupil by next year, according to Egorov. 

“No other school district in America comes close to these levels of per-student spending. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Annual Survey of School System Finances shows that New York City is the only district spending more than $30,000 per child. The next biggest spender, the District of Columbia, spent $27,425 per child that year.” 

Since 2020, the city’s Department of Education budget has jumped to $40 billion from $34.5 billion – now accounting for 35.5% of the overall budget, Egorov writes. 

“Families are reacting to these disappointing results by exploring options outside the public school system. The homeschool population in New York City has grown from under 9,000 in 2020 to more than 15,000 in 2024 – an increase of more than 68 percent.” 

As previously reported by The Lion, New York is experiencing the second-highest rate of homeschool growth in the nation despite its reputation as a high-regulation state for homeschoolers. 

“The state does not allow homeschool students to dual-enroll in selected public school classes and provides no financial assistance to families,” Egorov writes. “As one family reported, ‘As a homeschooler in New York City, all you get is an OMNY card and tons of requests for forms and reports.’” 

Despite these obstacles, homeschooling rates have increased in the Big Apple by 324% over the past 10 years – “particularly in Brooklyn and the Bronx,” according to FingerLakes1.com, a local digital media outlet. 

Emily D’Vertola for the Empire Center for Public Policy, a think tank based in Albany, noted the range of requirements for homeschool families in the state – including individualized home instruction plans, quarterly reports and annual assessments. 

“It is ironic that demand for homeschooling has increased so quickly in New York, a state that presents so many barriers to the practice,” D’Vertola wrote. “Imagine how many more parents might also make a different choice for their child (homeschooling or otherwise) if they had the power to do so.”