NYC Spends $44,000 Per Student — Test Scores Are Mediocre and Enrollment Is Collapsing

$43 Billion. 157,900 Fewer Kids. Middle-of-the-Pack Scores.

New York City is spending $44,000 per student on public education this year. That's the highest per-pupil spend of any large urban school district in the United States — 50% more than Los Angeles or Chicago, according to federal education data cited by the NY Post.

The total bill: $43 billion. A record.

And enrollment is in freefall.

The Math Doesn't Work

The NYC Department of Education has 157,900 fewer students than it did ten years ago. Despite that, it operates 39 more schools than it did then.

Right now, 249 of the city's 1,600 schools — that's 15% — are running below 50% capacity. Nearly half of all city public schools have fewer than 400 students. 134 schools are educating fewer than 150 kids each.

The City School Construction Authority projects enrollment will crater by another 153,000 students by 2034-35, bottoming out at roughly 721,000 students in traditional public schools.

More money. Fewer students. More half-empty buildings.

What Are Taxpayers Getting?

Not much, by the numbers.

Andrew Rein, executive director of the Citizens Budget Commission, said: "Despite 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."

NYC students score middle-of-the-pack among urban districts on standardized math and English exams. No dramatic collapse — but no proportional return on a $44,000 annual investment either.

For context: the national average public school per-pupil expenditure is roughly $14,000. New York City is spending three times that. The results do not reflect a 3x multiplier in outcomes.

The Class Size Law Making It Worse

State lawmakers — pushed hard by the teachers union — passed a class size reduction law that's now colliding with the enrollment collapse. Daniela Souza, an education researcher at the Manhattan Institute, called it "unworkable" and "impossible to implement."

The problem: you can't simultaneously shrink class sizes AND close the half-empty schools needed to save money. The two goals conflict directly.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and fellow Democrats in Albany are reportedly considering giving the city more time to comply with the law — an admission that the law doesn't fit ground reality.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is finalizing his first budget proposal. Whether he consolidates schools and cuts spending remains an open question.

What Left-Leaning Outlets Would Emphasize — And They Have a Point

This story has been covered almost exclusively by right-leaning outlets. That's significant.

Left-leaning analysts and progressive education advocates push back — and some arguments deserve serious consideration.

First, NYC's student population is uniquely expensive to serve. The city has a massive concentration of students in poverty, English-language learners, and children with disabilities — all requiring more resources per student by law and necessity. Raw per-pupil spending comparisons without adjusting for student need can be misleading.

Second, the class size law has educational backing. Research consistently shows smaller classes benefit low-income students most. Teachers unions aren't wrong that overcrowded classrooms hurt learning — they're wrong that the city can afford the law given current fiscal realities.

Third, school closures are genuinely traumatic for communities, especially in low-income neighborhoods. Closing a school displaces a community anchor. Progressive critics have a valid concern.

Fourth, some spending increases are tied to COVID recovery funds and special education mandates — not pure administrative bloat. The distinction matters.

None of those arguments explain why spending rises as enrollment falls, year after year, without accountability for outcomes.

What the Coverage Is Getting Wrong

Right-leaning coverage frames this almost entirely as union-driven waste. That's partially true but incomplete.

Left-leaning coverage largely ignores the story — which is worse. The numbers exist regardless.

The honest answer: both the spending trajectory AND the student need are real. A $43 billion budget that doesn't shrink as enrollment shrinks is a structural problem. Blaming it entirely on the union is incomplete. Ignoring it is dishonest.

What This Means for Regular New Yorkers

If you're a taxpayer in New York City, you fund a school system that costs more every year and educates fewer children every year.

If you're a parent, your kids are in schools that — on test score evidence — are not delivering results proportionate to that investment.

If you're a student in a school running at 40% capacity with shrinking budgets, consolidation is coming.

School closures and mergers are "inevitable," according to Souza.

The only question is whether New York's political class manages that process honestly — or waits until the fiscal crisis forces their hand.

History suggests the latter.