Enrollment Decline in NYC Public Schools
New York City public schools are expected to see an additional loss of 22,000 students this year, marking a 2.4% drop. This is the largest enrollment decrease in four years, according to early data from the Department of Education. Experts suggest this troubling trend may worsen under the incoming mayor, Zoran Mamdani.
This shocking statistic aligns with a post-COVID-19 pattern, where families have been exiting the system over the past five years, resulting in a total decline of 12.2%.
Many involved in the education system worry there’s no end in sight.
“We bleed for our children,” shared a high school teacher in the city.
At the start of the 2019-2020 school year, the number of students enrolled in New York City public schools was 1,002,200. Now, that figure has plummeted to 844,400, reflecting a staggering loss of 117,800 students.
Despite the decline, the Department of Education’s budget has surged by nearly $7 billion since 2019, reaching $40 billion this year.
“Every year, it’s the same issue: New York City public schools keep losing students, yet budgets and per-student funding continue to rise, while we see the same lackluster results. The system is failing,” stated Daniela Souza Egorov, a parent and fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
In the latest figures, K-12 schools lost 18,411 students from the previous year, while Pre-K saw a drop of 4,555 students.
Interestingly, only the 3K program, aimed at three-year-olds, experienced growth this year, adding 1,118 new students. This increase might be attributed to more parents returning to work.
The only year within the last five that recorded an increase in student numbers was in 2023, which saw a slight bump of 0.6%, primarily due to an influx of immigrants.
“We’re stuck in a vicious cycle: poor schools lead to families moving away, and in turn, this makes schools even worse,” Egorov noted.
This is exactly what parents are worried about, as they expressed in conversations.
The primary reason parents seek alternatives to public education in New York City is the perceived lack of rigor, with 41% looking for a more robust education, according to an April survey.
Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani has committed to phasing out the gifted education program in preschools, which Egorov claims will drive even more families out of the city.
A frustrated father from Queens voiced his concerns, saying, “I’m enrolling my son in a private daycare rather than 3K.”
Many are apprehensive about the potential worsening of enrollment under Mamdani’s administration.
Currently, two-thirds of fourth graders in the city aren’t proficient in math, and even less are reading at grade level.
Lack of academic rigor ranks as the top reason for parents educating their children outside the public system, according to the same April survey.
Iatin Chu, co-director of Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education (PLACE), attributes the enrollment drop to a trend against merit in the city’s educational policies.
“We’ve noticed a shift away from merit-based assessments towards more subjective criteria,” she remarked. “I doubt we’ll see a change with the Mamdani administration.”
Enrollment in charter schools, which are publicly funded but run independently, grew to 150,000 last year, marking a 14% increase since 2019.
Data indicates New York City’s population has decreased by 300,000 people from April 2020 to July 2024, contributing to the educational exodus, according to census data.
“Families are moving to Long Island for better school options,” Chu pointed out.
Egorov cautions that the decline in public schools could severely impact the overall quality of life in the city, as departing families reduce the tax base.
“Providing more services is going to become increasingly difficult,” she said. “In the end, only families who can afford to live here will have the means to seek education outside the public system.”
