Record School Spending Amid Enrollment Declines

This school year, New York City’s Department of Education is set to spend an astonishing $42,168 per student on various educational initiatives, despite seeing a decline in student enrollment and stagnating academic performance.

This figure, which marks an increase of nearly $2,000 from the previous year’s budget, has been highlighted by the Citizens’ Budget Committee, a nonprofit organization. Students are expected to return to classrooms on September 4th.

The current spending is 36% higher than the $31,119 allocated per student just five years ago.

When estimating costs per student, CBC takes into account factors like food, transportation, support services, central management, pensions, and debt obligations.

The rise in per-student costs comes at a time when the number of students is falling. Last year, the statistics indicated around 815,000 students were enrolled in K-12 programs in DOE schools—a drop of about 100,000 from the 2019-2020 school year.

New York City leads the nation in spending per student, with Chicago and Philadelphia trailing behind.

Despite the substantial investment in the nation’s largest school system, student proficiency, especially in English and math, lags relative to peers in the state and across the country.

The Nation’s Report Card, published by the National Center for Education Statistics in January, indicated that only 33% of fourth graders in the city achieved proficiency in math, while 28% did so in reading.

The situation for older students is even more concerning, with only 23% of eighth graders meeting math standards and 29% reading at proficient levels.

In last year’s statewide exams, around 52.6% of sixth graders met proficiency in English arts; this was a slight increase from 45.9% last year, although it was down from 56.3% two years ago. However, comparisons may be tricky due to changing testing standards.

Ray Domanico, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has criticized the spending by the DOE as “unsustainable.” He argues that the system needs to integrate schools better and improve its overall effectiveness, suggesting that wasted funds could be redirected to support families and improve services that make the city a better place for raising children.

Yiatin Chu, co-president of Place NYC, also expressed skepticism about the correlation between spending levels and educational quality, noting that parents often don’t associate the investment with the actual quality of education their children are receiving.

The DOE’s $41.2 billion budget accounts for about one-third of the city’s overall budget.

Mayor Adams and School Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos announced plans to hire over 3,700 additional teachers in April, aiming to reduce class sizes in line with new state regulations.

Adams successfully restored a $167 million cut from the DOE’s budget intended for 3-K and pre-K special education programs.

Starting in September, state law mandates class sizes be limited to 20 students for grades K-3, and 23 for grades 4-8, with at least 60% of classrooms meeting these limits by 2028.

Adams reportedly expressed concerns about the cost of implementing these changes, projected at around $500 million for grades K-5 alone. In the previous year, approximately $10 million of the DOE’s budget was allocated for recruiting teachers to meet this year’s demands.

A plateau in student enrollment means that expenditure on hiring could become a major focus, according to CBC’s research vice president, Ana Champney.

She pointed out that while hiring more teachers is generally accepted, there’s little accountability on whether the funding is directed towards high-quality educators, and some resources may be diminishing as a result of class size laws.

A DOE spokesperson defended the rising costs, emphasizing that NYC public schools are the largest school district in the nation and reiterating the commitment to investing in students, schools, and staff to provide a world-class education.

The spokesperson acknowledged the new funding aimed at enhancing student services and supporting a quality educational environment, noting that investing in students is essential for the future.