new\u00a0Bronx high school focused on hip-hop<\/a>.<\/p>\nIt canceled, however, the proposed\u00a0Next Generation Technology High School,\u00a0a first-of-its-kind\u00a0school focused on AI and\u00a0other emerging technologies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over 1,000 students had applied for only 100 available seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But PEP\u00a0Chairman\u00a0Greg\u00a0Faulkner objected that Next Generation, which planned to screen its students for the basic math proficiency necessary for its rigorous program, wouldn\u2019t promote\u00a0\u201cequity and equitable access.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
PEP\u00a0also voted to\u00a0cancel the proposed relocation of Center School on the Upper West Side, which would have\u00a0allowed\u00a0the\u00a0overcrowded\u00a0PS 9 to expand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That means PS 9 students with special needs will have to keep receiving therapy sessions in front of other children, due to lack of space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PEP\u00a0declined to close the under-enrolled, underperforming PS 191 and Manhattan School for Children. \u00a0<\/p>\n
PS 191\u00a0had\u00a0only 138 students last year (down from 172 a decade ago), when just 42% of fifth graders met grade-level standards in reading or math. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Enrollment at Manhattan School for Children\u00a0declined\u00a0from 687 in\u00a0the 2019-20\u00a0school year\u00a0to 437 in 2024-25, as academic\u00a0performance there kept sliding; 54% of its eighth graders read at grade level,\u00a0with\u00a0even worse results in math.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an ongoing vicious cycle: The more City Hall denies academically rigorous programs and fails to create more seats in thriving schools, the more parents will seek other options.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And keeping emptying schools\u00a0open\u00a0translates to lower per-pupil funding\u00a0for\u00a0students in more successful, higher-attendance\u00a0schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of\u00a0bankrolling\u00a0failure,\u00a0the\u00a0public-school system requires leaders willing to make\u00a0difficult decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a first step, Samuels\u00a0should carefully examine\u00a0which\u00a0city schools\u00a0are attracting and\u00a0retaining\u00a0families, and implement a plan to expand on their success.<\/p>\n
Next, funding should track enrollment: Per-pupil spending should be more equal across the city\u2019s schools, thereby boosting resources for those functioning well. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, Samuels and Mamdani must say plainly that empty and failing\u00a0schools need to close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Propping up the status quo will only deepen the mayor\u2019s budget woes and prevent any\u00a0meaningful academic\u00a0improvement for our kids. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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DOE\u00a0can take a cue from other large school\u00a0systems: Philadelphia is\u00a0closing\u00a017 schools next\u00a0year,\u00a0 Houston is closing 12, and Boston plans to shutter 20 schools by 2030. \u00a0<\/p>\n
As Boston Public Superintendent Mary Skipper recently put it,\u00a0\u201cWhen . . . there are fewer students to educate, we also need to make reductions in teachers and staff positions because the students aren\u2019t there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York deserves the same clarity.<\/p>\n
A school system with fewer students needs fewer schools \u2014 and better ones.<\/p>\n
Danyela\u00a0Souza\u00a0Egorov\u00a0is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City\u2019s\u00a0public schools are in a full-blown enrollment crisis, losing students by the tens of thousands\u00a0each year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14927,41579,9,24,56,63,65,64,299,209,6915,82],"class_list":["post-228102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-city-budget","tag-kamar-samuels","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-opinion","tag-public-schools","tag-schools-chancellor","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}