The numbers don\u2019t add up!<\/p>\n
New York City is already dumping a record $43 billion into its public schools while spending heaps more per-student than any other large US district \u2014 despite plummeting enrollment<\/a> and mediocre test results.<\/p>\n The massive price tag for educating Big Apple students could grow even more as Mayor Zohran Mamdani is finalizing his first budget proposal and as the city is already spending $44,000 per student \u2014 an unsustainable level of spending, budget watchdogs and education analysts said.<\/p>\n Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels speaking at a press conference with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul on March 3, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n The spending is also unacceptable, given Big Apple students\u2019 middle-of-the-pack showing among urban school districts on standardized math and English exams, experts said.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the City spending $44,000 per student, too many of its schools are delivering middling results, and some parents are increasingly choosing charters over traditional public schools,\u201d said Andrew Rein, executive director of the Citizens Budget Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City should focus its effort and dollars on student learning and shrink spending that\u2019s not delivering results. This includes adjusting school funding when enrollment shrinks and combining schools that have shrunk so much that they are no longer cost-effective to run.\u201d<\/p>\n But right-sizing Big Apple education could be even more difficult after state lawmakers imposed an expensive class size reduction law<\/a>, even as enrollment shrinks, critics said.<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul and her fellow Democrats in the legislature are considering giving the city more time to comply with the law \u2014 championed by the teachers\u2019 union \u2014 as part of ongoing budget talks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe law is unworkable law. It\u2019s impossible to implement,\u201d said Daniela Souza, an education researcher with the Manhattan Institute.<\/p>\n A breakdown of NYC\u2019s Department of Education budget. NY Post Design<\/p>\n The city\u2019s Department of Education has 157,900 fewer students than a decade ago, but it operates 39 more schools.<\/p>\n And 15% \u2014 or 249 of the 1,600 schools \u2014 operate below 50% capacity, data shows.<\/p>\n Nearly half of all the city public schools now have fewer than 400 students \u2014 with 134 of those institutions educating below 150 students, according to data.<\/p>\n The decline will worsen in the future, a new report from the City School Construction Authority projects.<\/p>\n Enrollment in traditional public schools will plunge by another 153,000 students by 2034-35, falling to 721,251, the report projects.<\/p>\n \u201cThe New York City\u2019s Department of Education budget keeps going up while the number of students they\u2019re educating continues to decline,\u201d Souza said.<\/p>\n \u201cSchool closings and mergers are inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n New York City spends 50% more per student out of the largest urban school districts in the country, exceeding Los Angeles or Chicago, according to federal data.<\/p>\n But all that spending has produced less-than-stellar results, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress<\/a>, considered \u201cthe Nation\u2019s Report Card.\u201d<\/p>\n Only a third of fourth-grade students rated \u201cproficient\u201d in math and only 28% were proficient in reading.<\/p>\n In eighth grade, 23% of city students were proficient in math and 29% in reading.<\/p>\n A representative for Samuels told The Post that the DOE will address the enrollment and spending concerns. Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy Of Music<\/p>\n Many urban school districts are also experiencing enrollment losses from declining birth fertility rates and immigration.<\/p>\n But Big Apple parents are also voting with their feet, looking for better opportunities for their kids elsewhere.<\/p>\n Independent publicly funded city charter schools now enroll 150,500 students in 285 schools, or nearly one in six across the boroughs.<\/p>\n Students in many charter schools\u00a0perform better on\u00a0<\/a>the state\u2019s math and English exams than students in neighboring traditional public schools run by the DOE.<\/p>\n