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Education Reports:

Benefits Of Extending Tuition Benefits To Undocumented Immigrants
This new report - by the New York State Youth Leadership Council and NYU Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic - outlines the economic and social benefits that would accompany passage of the New York DREAM Act. The act would provide that all New Yorkers, regardless of status, have access to financial assistance for higher education. 2013-03-27

The state property tax cap
The state's new property tax cap succeeded in its first year in holding average property tax growth to 2 percent – 40 percent less than the previous ten-year average, according to this report by Gov. Cuomo's office. Out of 3,077 local governments and school districts proposing a levy in the past year, the study found that 84 percent reported a levy within the capped amount.  2012-10-01

The city's public school class of 2009
The Independent Budget Office checked up on the Education Department's tallying of graduation rates and found their numbers solid. But they looked beyond that for finer data, such as why and who was discharged. 2012-09-11

Visualizing School Aid
The Citizens Budget Commission's new interactive map documents school aid variation across the state by district.  2012-08-08

Losses to Subsidized Child Care
The Independent Budget Office estimates that over 5,500 contracted child care slots will be lost in September once the city implements its redesigned early childhood education, called EarlyLearn NYC. That takes into account the recent announcement that funds would be allocated to create an additional 1,700 slots.  2012-05-31

Grading School Progress Reports
The methodology used by the city's Education Department for school progress reports is a significant improvement over simply basing measures on comparisons of standardized test scores, according to the Independent Budget Office. But they warn that results must be interpreted with caution. 2012-04-19

Analysis of the Mayor's Budget Plan
Yesterday the Independent Budget Office released its analysis of the mayor's budget plan and his financial plan through 2016. Some highlights are: The office estimates that the city will add an average of 72,400 jobs per year over the next four years; tax revenues are expected to rise by 4.3 percent this year and total $41.4 billion; and general education spending will decline by 3.3 percent next year. 2012-03-30

Elementary School Class Sizes
The number of general education students in first through fifth grade classes of 30 students or more has tripled from 2009 to 2012, with over 31,000 students now in such classes, according to this report by Councilmember Brad Lander. In some school districts, fewer than 1 percent of students were in very large classes in 2009; today, nearly 20 percent are. 2012-03-29

Design and Architecture in the City
New York City graduates twice as many students in design and architecture as any other U.S. city, but the city’s design schools are not only providing the talent pipeline for New York’s creative industries — they have become critical catalysts for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth, according to this report by the Center for an Urban Future.  2012-03-22

Racial Disparities in City School Arrests
Police arrested over five students each day in city public schools from October through December, according to police department data released today by the New York Civil Liberties Union. About 94 percent of students arrested were black or Latino; 75 percent were male. Black students comprise only 29 percent of the student population in city schools, but 60 percent of those arrested were black. 2012-02-23

Strengthening Career and Technical Education
The city's career and technical education high schools feature prominently on the state’s “persistently low-achieving” list and fail to train for growing industries that are expected to provide high-skill, high-wage jobs in the future, according to this report by the public advocate. The city also does not track the success of specific programs or the career paths pursued by these students. 2012-02-10

Solar Panels on Public School Roofs
The installation of solar panels on the roofs of public schools could create 5,400 new jobs, according to this report by the Manhattan Borough President's office. It could also produce 169 megawatts of clean electricity; eliminate 76,700 tons of carbon from the air each year; and increase solar capacity in the five boroughs by over 2,600 percent. 2012-01-31

Demographics, Resources, and Outcomes of the Public School System
In this overview of the public school system, the Independent Budget Office reports that Hispanics make up nearly 40 percent of kids enrolled, while black students account for about 30 percent; the Dominican Republic is by far the most common birthplace for students born outside the U.S.; the Department of Education’s expense budget of $19.4 billion has grown by 22 percent since 2007; state funding accounted for 43 percent of that budget while city funds made up 41 percent and federal funds 15 percent; and student attendance increased over the last five years, improving from 86.9 percent in '06 to 89.7 percent last year. It goes into detail on much more. 2011-10-13

Phys Ed Flunks
Many elementary schools do not meet state guidelines for physical education, according to an audit released yesterday by City Comptroller John Liu. Schools did not offer the amount of physical activity required by the state, and some did not have a space for physical education or a physical education teacher. Despite the Bloomberg administration's concerns about obesity, school officials told the auditors that the city Department of Education leaves individual principals solely responsible for ensuring that students have the required opportunities for exercise.  2011-10-05

Bilking the City
Details have emerged about the alleged fraud committed by a firm called Future Technology Associates against the city Department of Education. On Wednesday, the city special commissioner for investigation issued a report charging that the firm used shell companies and inflated billing to bilk the city out of at least $6.5 million. Another report, this one by the city comptroller and made available to Gotham Gazette (link below), found that as questions were raised about Future Tech, the chief of the education department's Division of Finance repeatedly vouched for it. (It has since emerged the city official was romantically involved with one of Future Tech's owners.)  2011-09-30

Mayor’s Budget Plan Overstates Need for Teacher Layoffs
The Bloomberg Administration has significantly overstated the number of layoffs needed to meet its budget target, according to an analysis by the Independent Budget Office. Savings from attrition could be almost $104 million higher than the budget assumes, which would reduce the number of layoffs needed by more than 1,600 to achieve the same budget cut. 2011-06-03

Air Gets a Passing Grade
Following two months of monitoring, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that the air outside I.S. 143 on West 182nd Street in Manhattan does not have sufficient toxic air pollution to warrant concern. The monitoring was part of a program that checked air at 63 schools in 22 states. I.S. 143 was selected because it is in a densely populated area and near highways that generate toxic air pollutants.  2011-05-31

Grades for the Grading
High school progress reports -- popularly known as report cards -- have accurate information, but are not as useful as they could be because the Department of Education changes its evaluation system every year, according to an audit by City Comptroller John Liu. The Department of Education uses the reports in deciding which schools to close and which ones to reward with additional funds. "The frequent changes the agency has made to its grading and other formulas … makes it difficult, if not impossible, to get a true picture of a school’s progress by comparing its grade from one year to the next," the audit found. The department said it has begun to make some of the change recommended in the audit. 2011-05-16

Students in Schools 'Phasing Out'
The Urban Youth Collaborative, a student-led coalition, has issued a report focusing on an often ignored aspect of the city's program to close failing schools: the fate of students in those schools during "phase-out" period. The group found students attending 21 closed schools in the schools' final years were less likely to graduate than students in other schools. At one high school -- Taft in the Bronx-- the report says the dropout rate skyrocketed from 25 percent to 70 percent. Overall the report found only 15 percent of the graduates in the closing schools received a Regents diploma, compared to 41 percent of graduates in the city. The reports calls for the city to seek to improve failing schools rather than simply shutting them. 2011-04-18

Funding for Charter Schools in City School Buildings Unequal
Public spending last year on charter schools located in city school buildings received an average of $649 more per student than traditional public schools, according to this report by the Independent Budget Office.  2011-02-18

Closing Schools vs. Other Schools
As the battle over the latest round of proposed school closings heats up, the Independent Budget Office has released a report finding that may of the schools slated for shutting by the Department of Education -- particularly the high schools -- have a disproportionate share of the school systems’ neediest students. For example the report found that special education students accounted for 18 percent of enrollment at the 14 high schools on this year’s closing list high schools, compared to 12 percent at all city high schools. At four schools on the closing list, more than 10 percent of all students fall into this group, compared to 4 percent for city students overall. 2011-01-31

Seats Added to Schools Unaccounted For
According to this report by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, 50,000 out of 130,000 seats that the city claims were added in schools over the last 12 years are not accounted for. 2010-12-08

New Chancellor to Face Contract Negotiations, Falling Test Scores

State of Higher Learning
New York state's public and private colleges and universities generated $62.2 billion in economic activity here last year, according to a report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. All together, some 1.2 million students attended colleges and universities in the state last year, an increase of 21.4 percent in the last decade. More than 266,000 people work in higher education.  2010-10-06

School Funding Allocations
While most schools will receive less money per students this year than last, some 585 schools will receive more, according to an analysis by the Independent Budget Office. Those that did receive increases saw changes in their student bodies that entitled them to more money under the city's funding formula for schools. To find funding for specific schools, go here. The link to the analysis is below.  2010-09-27

Big Differences in Graduation Rates Among Similar High Schools
High schools vary dramatically in their ability to help similar students graduate, particularly with Regents diplomas, according to this new report by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity 2010-09-23

New York's Winning Bid
The U.S. Department of Education has chosen New York State as one of 10 winners of federal Race to the Top Education finds. The state's application lays out what it proposed to do with the money. 2010-08-25

Test Results
The release of scores on state standardized tests has sparked a furor this week. While scores themselves remained largely flat, a change in the way the state scores them -- particularly the cutoff score for determining whether a student met standards -- led to far fewer city students being considered proficient in English and math than in previous years. The city Department of Education has released a number of statistics, including school-by-school reports. 2010-07-30

Failing to Evaluate School Closings
The Department of Education has failed to evaluate the impact of school closings and co-locating - placing schools within other schools - according to this new report by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the Alliance for Quality Education.  2010-07-23

Key Arts Funding Down
Even before the recession hit full force, New York City's arts education funding in two important areas declined sharply, according to an analysis by the Center for Arts Education. Its report found that funding for hiring arts organizations to provide instruction dropped 31 percent over the past three school years, while spending for supplies, instruments and equipment declined by 68 percent. Middle schools -- often viewed as the most neglected sector of city public schools -- saw the sharpest decline, with money for equipment falling by 79 percent over the period studied.  2010-07-14

Benefits of Small High Schools
A study of the new small high schools created by the Bloomberg administration has concluded that students who attend these schools are more likely to graduate on time than their counterparts in other New York City public high schools. The report, released by the non-profit education firm MRDC, concluded, "Systematically replacing very big failing high schools with a large number of small public high schools can narrow the educational attainment gap and markedly improve graduation prospects, particularly for disadvantaged students." The study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided funding for some of the small schools. 2010-06-23

Accountability in City Schools
The system by which principals and schools are held accountable has serious flaws, yet the overarching concept of localized principal empowerment appears to be producing positive results, according to this new report by The Center for New York City Affairs.  2010-06-17

Serving Students with an Interrupted Education
The city and state education departments should build a more consistent and uniform approach to identifying and serving students with interrupted formal education, according to this new report by Advocates for Children of New York.  2010-05-27

A Charter School Advantage?
Black and Hispanic eighth graders who attend charter schools are more likely to be admitted to one of the city's eight elite specialized public high schools than their counterparts in conventional public schools, according to a review of data by Marcus Winters of the Manhattan Institute. The number of black and Latino students admitted to these selective schools, such as Bronx High School of Science, has been declining, and while Winters found charter school students fared better, the numbers were still very small. For example, 2.4 percent of black charter school students were offered to a seat in one of the specialized schools, compared to an even smaller 1.5 percent of black students in regular public schools. Commenting on the study, Aaron Pallas wrote that while the charter school number is higher, "the data demonstrate the persistence of a huge achievement gap between black and Latino students, on the one hand, and white and Asian students, on the other. " 2010-04-30

The Cost of Class Size
A new research brief from the Empire Center for New York State Policy found most school districts in New York employed more staff than they did at the start of the decade even as enrollment fell statewide. Between 2000 and 2009, the state's schools added 14,746 teachers and 8,655 other staff members, such as administrators or guidance counselors. During the same time period, state enrollment fell by more than 120,000.  2010-04-06

Graduation Rate Rises
The city announced last week that graduation rates had hit an all-time high with almost 63 percent of students who should have graduated in 2009 meeting that goal. The city has compiled a number of reports and statistics on graduation and drop out rate.  2010-03-14

Public Spending Per-Student at Charter Schools
Per-student public spending on children in charter schools is similar to that spent on public school children, according to this new report by the Independent Budget Office. Per-student general education spending at traditional public schools totaled $16,678, the study found, while children attending charter schools housed within public schools got only $305 less per student. Over two-thirds of charters are located in public school buildings. However, charter schools located in private space received only $13,661 per student, the IBO noted. 2010-02-25

Bias-Based Bullying
An audit of bullying incidents that took place in New York's public schools during the 2008-2009 school year shows that 4.7 percent of those incidents were bias based. There were 6,207 bias-based incidents out of 130,837 disciplinary incidents. The audit will be used as a baseline number in an effort to reduce the number of bias-based bullying incidents. According to the report 55 percent of the incidents were based on gender, 21 percent on race, and 13 percent were based on sexual preference or gender identity.  2010-01-31

Comparing Schools for Closure
A report from the Independent Budget Office that compares schools slated for closure to those staying open found 12 of the 15 high schools set to shutter were in the lowest decile for overall performance. All middle schools and kindergarten through 8th grade schools slated for closure were in the lowest category for general performance. High schools slated for closure also had higher rates of low-income students, students in temporary housing and high need students. The report was done at the request of Councilmember Robert Jackson, the chair of the Education Committee.  2010-01-26

Hazardous Buildings
A review of buildings in Manhattan by the office of Borough President Scott Stringer found a quarter of a million open Department of Buildings and Environmental Control Board violations in the borough. The report, Falling Apart at the Seams, found 33 percent of those violations were classified as “hazardous,” meaning they warranted “immediate corrective action.” Unresolved hazardous environmental control board violations persist at almost 40 percent of Manhattan’s public schools and 60 percent of public hospital buildings. A spokesperson for the mayor has said the problem is being addressed. 2010-01-25

Charter Schools and Needy Students
A report released by the teachers' union concludes that charter schools do not serve a representative cross section of the city's children. The United Federation of Teachers' report, "Separate and Unequal," says the privately run but publicly funded schools do not have as many impoverished students as regular public schools and are less likely to enroll special needs and immigrant children and those who do not speak English. The union is calling for changes in the state's charter law that it says would "ensure equal access to charters by all students, ... increase transparency in charter school finances and operations, and ... remove the ability of for-profit operators to use charters as profit centers." 2010-01-04

The Economy and Higher Education
A new report by a state task force charged with diversifying the state's economy through higher education, established by Gov. David Paterson in May, found that "open innovation principals" at academic institutions, access to capital and support for a research and development tax credit could help the economy recover. New York's universities rank second in the nation for spending on research, according to the report.  2009-12-15

Skipping Breakfast
Although the Bloomberg administration has instituted a universal breakfast program in city schools, more than two thirds of low-income students fail to take advantage of it, according to a national study by Food Research and Action Center. This contrasts with Newark, Columbus and Boston where more than 50 percent of low-income students get breakfast. (For an analysis of New York's performance, go to the New York Coalition Against Hunger.)  2009-12-09

Evaluating a Teachers' Contract
With the United Federation of Teachers and the city negotiating a new contract, the Citizens Budget Commission has issued a report on how it thinks New Yorkers should assess any new agreement. Among other things, the fiscal watchdog says the contract should require measures to stem increases in pension and health insurance costs and institute merit pay and new provisions to fire unsatisfactory teachers. 2009-11-15

Benefits of Charter Schools
Students at conventional public schools are helped by having charter schools in their midst -- even if they do not attend them, according to a new report by Marcus Winters of the Manhattan Institute. While critics of charters have argued that they take the most motivated students out of regular public schools and so cause quality to decline, Winters found that schools where some students have transferred to charter schools saw a slight improvement in reading, while math achievement remained the same. And in both areas, Winters found, "the lowest performing students in public school benefit from competition from charter schools." 2009-11-10

Arts Education and School Graduation Rates
A new report from the Center For Arts Education compares graduation rates to access to arts programs in New York City's high schools, finding that high schools with high graduation rates consistently offer students more substantial arts programming, while students at schools with the lowest graduation rates have the least access to arts education. The authors argue that their findings indicate that improved arts education is key to keeping young people in school.  2009-10-20

After School Programs
The Campaign for Educational Equity at Columbia University released a new report dissecting participation and success of after school programs. Economically disadvantaged and minority youth are less likely to participate in such programs, according to the report. But the study added that increasing their participation cannot alone narrow the achievement gap. 2009-10-14

City Lags Behind in Innovation Economy
A new report from the Center for an Urban Future says the city has failed to use its academic institutions to build an innovation economy. The high cost of real estate, a shortage of lab space and the institutions themselves are all to blame, the report states. Despite this, the New York metropolitan area leads all other regions in spending on research and development by academic institutions with $2.9 billion in 2006. 2009-09-29

Charter Schools and Student Achievement
Students who attend charter schools are likely to narrow the "achievement gap" between city school students and those in wealthy suburbs, and are more likely to earn Regents high school diplomas than their counterparts in standard public schools, according to the New York City Charter Schools Evaluation Project. Its report found that students at charters, while poorer and more likely to be black than city students as a whole, "would close about 86 percent of the 'Scarsdale-Harlem achievement gap' in math and 66 percent of the achievement gap in English." The report attributes the gains to a number of factors including the longer school day and emphasis on academic performance at charter schools. 2009-09-23

New School Construction, Same Overcrowding
Tens of thousands of students will still face overcrowding despite new schools being planned or built, a New York City Comptroller report finds. The report, Underprepared for Overcrowding: Department of Education School Construction, 2008-2017, cites poor planning by the Department of Education (DOE) and identifies specific communities that will likely continue to rely on temporary class room units (TCUs or trailers) and temporary mini-schools. 2009-09-14

Class Size Reduction Funding
Over 25 percent of the funds provided by the state to the city meant for reducing class size was redirected or misspent, according to a new audit by city Comptroller William Thompson. 2009-09-10

Grading the School for Principals
A new study by NYU's education school finds that graduates of the city's Leadership Academy to train principals did as well if not better than other new principals who did not attend the program. The study concluded that principals trained at the academy went on to run schools that were lower performing than city schools as a whole. Adjusting for that, the report concludes that test scores in English in schools with Leadership Academy principals were higher than those at comparable schools, while math scores were about the same. 2009-08-26

Principals Divided Over Accountability Database
The Public Advocates office has released a survey of city school principals that found most were concerned about the expense of new accountability software. Released in 2008, the Achievement Reporting and Innovation System or ARIS is a key component of the Department of Education's Accountability Initiative, which penalties and rewards schools based on student achievement metrics. While the majority of those surveyed felt the $80 million system would have a positive net impact, the detractors made up a significant minority. 2009-08-24

Fitness, Academic Performance Linked
While the adverse effects of obesity are well known, a new report by the city education and health departments has found what it says is "a strong association between fitness and academic success." To make this connection, the report found that heavier students do not do as well on the city Fitnessgram assessments as thinner students. It then determined that students who do better on the Fitnessgrams also do better on tests of academic performance. 2009-07-27

Graduation Rate Inflate
A new report from Comptroller William Thompson, who is also a candidate for mayor, accuses the Bloomberg administration of inflating high school graduation rates, claiming the city failed to track and verify school records. The audit sampled 197 students and found that of that sample 18 percent received credit for passing the same course twice. The Bloomberg administration released a rebuttal, which defends its graduation rates and says the comptroller raised “unfair suspicions.” 2009-07-22

Creating Safe High Schools
An analysis of six high schools serving "at-risk" students shows that metal detectors, aggressive policing and harsh disciplinary policies are not needed to create a safe learning environment, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University and Make the Road New York. 2009-07-09

Schools' Emergency Preparedness
City schools fall short of state requirements for emergency preparedness, according to this new report by the public advocate's office. According to this survey of union chapter leaders, 71 percent of schools had no early dismissal drill and half had no school-wide staff training for emergencies. 2009-06-26

Small vs. Large High Schools
The Bloomberg administration's drive to create smaller high schools and increase school choice has fueled an overall increase in the citywide graduation rate since 2002, according to a new report on city public high schools by the Center for New York City Affairs. However, the report found the small school initiative placed additional pressure on the large high schools that most city teens attend, creating crowding and leaving the schools to deal with an influx of challenging students. The report also identified what it saw as flaws in the high school admissions process. 2009-06-24

Junk Food in Schools
Many New York City schools sell candy, soda and other unhealthy foods in violation of city Department of Education policies, according to a recent audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The comptroller's office surveyed 30 schools and found unhealthy food in vending machines and school stores at 20 of them. The education department has already begun implementing a series of steps in response to the audit. 2009-06-15

School Overcrowding Crisis
The Campaign for Fiscal Equity finds that 48% of New York City students attend overcrowded schools. The report, Maxed Out: New York City School Overcrowding Crisis, looks at data from every New York City school and proposes a plan for the Department of Education. The Campaign for Fiscal Equity has also launched a website to accompany the study: OvercrowdedNYCSchools.org. 2009-05-26

No-Bid Education Contracts
Between July 2005 and June 2008, the city Department of Education gave out a total of $342.5 million in no-bid contracts of $100,000 or more, according to an audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The review, requested by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, said the department did not always document why the contract did not go out for competitive bidding and cited one case where the department did not advertise a $16.5 million contract in the City Record until 25 days after it was awarded. The report concluded that the department "“needs to improve its procurement requirements." 2009-05-20

Student Loan Defaults Will Rise Across the State
A report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli finds that the skyrocketing costs of college degrees -- which have risen by more than 30% in the last five years -- has forced more students to rely on loans. Now, students who are graduating with greater debt are at higher risk of defaulting. As of 2007, nearly two-thirds of college students graduating in New York state were in debt. 2009-05-19

'Discharged' from High School
The number of high school students "discharged" from city public schools has increased recently, according to a report released by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Discharged students have left the school system entirely -- some moved away, for example -- and so are not counted as dropouts or graduates. Critics of the school system, though, say principals may try to push problem students out so they do not later drop out. The increase in the discharge number was fueled largely by a sharp rise in ninth graders leaving the system. 2009-05-04

Gentrification Displaces Students
Five high schools closings in East New York, Canarsie and Far Rockaway could be attributed to gentrification, according to a new report from the Institute for Children and Poverty. Titled "Pushed Out: The Hidden Costs of Gentrification: Displacement and Homelessness," the report suggests that students can often be displaced by gentrification. According to the report, about 2,150 students from East New York and 2,400 students from Canarsie will have to find other schools, because the city has phased out "larger, lower-performing high schools." 2009-04-28

Disabled Students Left Behind
A new report by the Arise Coalition says that the past 7 years of education reforms have not improved the education experience for disabled students. The report calls on the Department of Education to focus on initiatives to improve the learning environment for the disabled. 2009-04-26

Education Spending Excess
A new report from councilmember and public advocate candidate Bill de Blasio shows the city’s Department of Education spent $57.3 million on “unnecessary” tests, courier services and an expanded press office. According to the report, the department spent $1.3 million on the press office expansion, including on a “truth squad” aimed at correcting misinformation. 2009-03-29

Education Department Spending
The Department of Education spent $57.3 million on unnecessary tests, courier services and an expanded press operation, including a seven person "Truth Squad," according to a report by Councilmember Bill de Blasio. 2009-03-27

Meeting Regents Requirements
The NYC Coalition for Educational Justice released a new report detailing the challenges New York City students face trying to meet state Regents requirements. Only 37 percent of New York City high school students graduate with a Regents diploma. Only 28 and 26 percent of black and Latino students, respectively, graduate with a Regents diploma. The report, titled "Looming Crisis or Historic Opportunity? Meeting the Challenge of the New Regents Diploma Requirements," recommends the city and state form an emergency working group to tackle the inequalities in high school education. 2009-02-10

Higher Education in Prison
In-prison college programs reduce recidivism rates, create a more positive environment in prison and are more cost effective than incarceration, argues the Correctional Association of New York in a new report. The study examines several effective post-secondary correctional education programs and calls for an expansion in the state of similar programs. 2009-02-02

State Funding for Public Colleges
Even before mid-year cuts in last year's state budget, aid to SUNY’s four-year colleges and graduate schools fell by 5 percent per student since the early 1990s, and at CUNY state support was down by 14 percent over the same period, according to this new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute. At community colleges, funding was down by 12 percent at SUNY and 26 percent at CUNY. 2009-01-16

Kids in NYCHA Perform Worse
Children living in New York City Housing Authority projects perform worse than other students, according to a new report from the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Only 53 percent of students living in housing authority residences pass the Math Regents test, compared to 60 percent of other students. About 70 percent of students in NYCHA facilities pass the English exam, while 75 percent of students outside pass. 2008-11-25

When Schools Fail
When New York City began issuing report cards with letter grades for all public schools, some experts feared that giving a school an "F" would have a demoralizing effect, further undermining education. In a new report, Marcus Winters of the Manhattan Institute found no such effect, instead concluding students in schools that got an F grade made overall improvements in math the following year and that the F grade seemed to have no effect on achievement in English. The report does not attempt to determine the accuracy of the report cards. 2008-11-12

Missing School
About one in five New York City elementary school students missed a month's worth of classes last school year, according to "Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families," a new report from the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School. The report attributes some of the problem to family instability and outlines steps the school system can take to reduce the absentee rate. 2008-10-21

Healthier School Buses
The Environmental Defense Fund proposes a $30 million retrofit program for the city's school buses over three years. The program would upgrade the bus fleet's diesel engines so that 90 percent of their pollution would be eliminated. Pollution is five times higher inside buses than it is outside, according to the report. 2008-10-03

School Construction Not Keeping Pace
The Manhattan borough president released an addendum to an earlier report on school capacity by the city comptroller's office, concluding that New York City School construction is not keeping pace with the residential construction boom. 2008-09-06

Out of School, Out of Work
Approximately 163,000 New Yorkers ages 16 to 24 are out of school and are not in the labor force, according to a recent report by the Community Service Society. Another 47,000 are looking for work but unable to find it. However, the report, "Out of Focus," found that the city has only 12,000 slots to provide education or employment for these so-called "disconnected youth." 2008-07-14

Education Survey
More parents and teachers say they are satisfied with their schools, according to a survey by the Education Department. Parents who said they were satisfied with their children's schools rose to 94 percent this year from 90 percent last year. Seventy-four percent of teachers said their schools were orderly and disciplined, up from 64 percent the previous year. Positive responses to all question among parents and teachers grew. Responses were not as positive among students, however. When asked if they felt safe in school, 72 percent said yes,which that grew from 64 percent last year. But almost half of students say that getting good grades isn't respected in school. Responses to the survey grew to 800,000, almost 220,000 more than 2007. 2008-07-03

Special Education Services
Last year over 4,500 students referred to the Department of Education for special education evaluation per month wait longer than 30 school days for the evaluation to be completed. More than half of those students wait over 60 days for evaluation. Also, the department failed to offer special education services, such as speech or physical therapy, within 60 days to 2,250 students a month. A federal consent decree from '79 dictates that evaluation be completed within 30 school days of parental request for evaluation and 40 school days for other requests. A student must then receive services within 60 and 70 school days respectively. 2008-06-27

Student Test Scores Rise
The city Department of Education has released its report on how city students scored on state standardized language arts and math tests this academic year. The report shows a rise in test scores and says the city is faring well when compared with the rest of the state. Critics, though, have noted that scores this year rose sharply throughout the state and have questioned the validity of the results. 2008-06-24

School Spending
The Department of Education is violating state regulation on how it can spend money the courts awarded the city for schools last year, according to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, the group that brought the suit resulting in additional funds. The department has not fully disclosed how they propose to spend the money, the group says. But of the $231 million they have provided public information on, only 40 percent is allocated for the neediest schools, they say. State regulation mandates that the neediest half of schools and children receive 75 percent of the funds awarded to the city. It also says the city must make its proposals public. 2008-06-20

Arts Education Falls Short
Most schools do not comply with a state requirement to teach the arts, according to a new report by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. According to the report, about 7 percent of elementary schools and 27 percent of middle schools offered music, visual arts, dance, and theater, which is required by the state. Less than half of the city’s middle schools offered one or two of those disciplines. The public advocate's office surveyed 100 randomly selected elementary schools and 50 random middle schools. 2008-06-18

Improving Career Education
Students at the New York City public high schools offering career and technical education are far more likely to graduate than their counterparts at other city schools. Despite this, technical education has been largely overlooked, according to "Schools that Work," a new study by the Center for an Urban Future. The Bloomberg administration's task force on career education offers an ideal opportunity for the city to change that, the report says, and outlines a number of proposals, including providing more funding and institutional support for these programs. 2008-05-19

School Squeeze
The construction of new schools and classrooms has not kept up with the pace of new housing in some city neighborhoods, leading to persistent overcrowding in some elementary and middle schools, according to a report released Friday by City Comptroller William Thompson. The report, "Growing Pains: The Need to Reform Department of Education Capital Planning to Keep Pace with New York City’s Residential Construction," includes a neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis contrasting the new seats provided in the 2005-09 Capital Plan with expected population growth and proposes new ways to finance and speed construction of new schools. 2008-05-12

Polluted School Sites
A legal loophole allows the city to open schools in leased buildings that could pose hazards to children, according to a report released yesterday by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. The report, "The High Cost of Leasing Schools," focuses on existing buildings leased by the School Construction Authority. Some of these are on former industrial sites, but under existing law, the authority does not have to get an environmental review of these properties. To remedy the situation, the report calls for closing what it terms "the leasing loophole in the Public Authorities Law." 2008-05-07

Schools Slacking on Physical Education
A report by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum found 3 percent of third graders had gym class every day, despite a state mandate. State law requires students in kindergarten through third grade participate in gym class daily, and fourth through sixth graders participate three times a week. The survey questioned 100 random elementary schools and 50 randomly selected middle schools throughout the five boroughs. The report urges the Department of Education to meet state requirements and provide athletic extracurricular activities. 2008-05-05

Class Size and Contract for Excellence
Despite receiving $152.7 million in new state funds meant to lower class sizes, the New York City Department of Education has failed to implement a comprehensive class size reduction plan to meet state goals and has allowed class sizes to rise at a third of the city schools receiving the funds, according to a report by the United Federation of Teachers. 2008-04-29

Parent Coordinators Hard to Find
Five years after the position was created, a survey by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum found that the Department of Education’s parent coordinators are more difficult to reach now than ever before. The report, which surveyed 100 parent coordinators, found that three-quarters of parent coordinators did not return phone calls, and 71 percent of messages left for coordinators were not returned. Gotbaum has recommended enforcing after school hours for coordinators and ensuring coordinators return phone calls. 2008-04-28

Enough Schools for All the New Homes?
There has not been enough school construction to match the apartment construction in Manhattan, according to a new report by Borough President Scott Stringer's office. Enough new homes have been approved since 2000 across the four neighborhoods at highest risk of overcrowding to add 2,300 new students, but only 143 new classroom seats were created, the report said. It also showed that Manhattan's elementary and middle schools are already 3,900 students over capacity. 2008-04-17

Capital Costs Up in Education
A comparison of the Department of Education's five-year capital plan from when it was originally approved in 2004 to now shows spending has increased by $227.2 million, totaling $13.4 billion, according to a new report by the Independent Budget Office. The report also found that projects are taking longer than expected and increased costs can be attributed to overall increases in the cost of construction. The department still plans on adding an additional 65,700 new school seats. 2008-03-19

Pushed Out of School
The organization Advocates for Children surveyed 145 students who were kicked out of New York City Schools. They found that the majority of students were told to leave school for reasons that are not legally justified, more than a third never met with a high school guidance counselor, and almost half did not know they had a legal right to remain in school until age 21. One hundred and twenty-six of the 145 students surveyed said they want to continue their education and go to college. 2008-02-26

Surveying Parents
A majority of parents selected reducing class size as the one thing the city could do that would best improve the schools, according to a survey released by the advocacy group Class Size Matters. The report provides results from a telephone poll of a random sample of about 600 and responses from more than 1,000 other parents who voluntarily filled out the survey on-line. The report found differences of opinion between those who responded and the Bloomberg administration on a number of issues, including mayoral control and use of standardized tests. 2008-02-19

Females at Tech High Schools
Females are falling behind at the city's Career and Technical Education high schools, according to a new report from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. At 18 of the high schools, females comprised only 41 percent of the student population, and several schools favored male enrollment, according to the report. Schools that had greater female populations lacked advanced placement classes, including in math and science. Addressing these gender inequalities, Gotbaum said, is important now because the administration wants to expand the program. 2008-01-28

Middle School Achievement
Despite the Bloomberg administration's focus on education, student performance in middle schools has shown modest improvement at best, and the gap between white students and black and Latino students remains wide, according to a report by the Coalition for Educational Justice. The report, "Our Children Can't Wait," finds only 30 percent of black and Latino eighth-graders meet state standards in reading and writing, compared to about 60 percent of white students. It also cites a gap in teacher quality between schools in high-poverty areas and other schools. The report includes a number of recommendations. 2008-01-22

Testing Students
Many New York City public school students now take a standardized test every three to four weeks, according to an analysis by the office of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Third graders, for example, are given approximately 12 city tests per year, only two of which are required by the state, according to Gotbaum. The rest, she said, are city tests designed to prepare the students for state exams. 2007-12-31

Higher Education in New York
A report by the New York State Commission on Higher Education calls for increased funding and thousands more faculty members to boost the state's universities. The report, released yesterday in preliminary form from a commission with members appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer earlier this year, recommends hiring 2,000 more faculty members at the State University of New York and the City University of New York, including 250 eminent scholars over the next five years. The report also calls for the establishment of a $3 billion research fund and the creation of a low-cost student loan program. Upon release of the report, Spitzer said the following in a prepared statement: "I look forward to evaluating this report and taking the Commission's recommendations for how my administration can create policies and programs that will make New York's higher education system second to none into consideration." 2007-12-18

Cutting Class Size
New York City needs some 2,522 additional classrooms to significantly reduce class size in the city’s lowest performing public schools, according to a report by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. Despite years of litigation and pressure on the Department of Education, the report, “A Seat of One’s Own,” finds that “thousands of our highest-needs students still go to school every day in overcrowded classrooms where teachers face the challenge of meeting the needs of our most vulnerable students under less than optimal conditions. “ To address this, the report recommends that the city use any available space in the targeted schools, share space between schools and develop a capital plan to address class size and so it can provide universal pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds. 2007-11-29

City Schools Get Grades
More than 1,200 schools received letter grades from A through F yesterday in the city's first-ever report cards, which were released by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. The report shows of the 1,224 schools that were evaluated, 23 percent earned an A, 38 percent received a B, 25 percent earned a C, 8 percent received a D and 4 percent earned an F. Bloomberg said the 50 schools with failing grades could close. Queens had the highest percentage of A elementary and middle schools, while Manhattan had the highest percentage of A high schools. The grades were based on three factors: school environment, student performance and student progress. Student progress was given the most weight of the three. Schools that received a D or an F will be required to submit plans that detail improvement proposals. 2007-11-06

Technical Education Not NYC Priority
New York City Comptroller William Thompson analyzed the city's Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, finding that the CTE has not been a priority of the New York City Department of Education. During the 2004-05 school year, there were 6,288 students in city schools in State-approved CTE programs, and 103,499 students in not-yet approved programs. 2007-10-29

Dual Enrollment Boosts College Prospects
Students who participate in dual enrollment – or those who take college courses for credit while still in high school – are nearly 10 percent more likely to pursue a bachelor’s degree, according to a new study by the Community College Research Center. The study, which examined New York City students enrolled in the City University of New York and students in Florida, revealed dual enrollment programs increase opportunities for low-income and minority students.Students who participated in the City University of New York dual enrollment program, who were most likely black or Asian, had grade point averages 20 percent higher than those that did not participate. 2007-10-23

School Funds Distribution
The city has begun a new needs-based distribution system for schools. But provisions limiting how much funding a school can lose or gain has meant that the city is spending more to keep schools at their previous level than they have spent on raising it at under-funded schools. While under-funded schools received $110 million more under the new system than the would have under the old one, it cost the city $237 million to prevent other schools from losing funds. 2007-10-11

Preparing Special Education Students
The New York City school system does not do enough to help special education students prepare for their transition to life after high school, according to a new report by Advocates for Children. The report, Transition to Nowhere, says about 13,000 students with disabilities leave the New York City schools every year, and the department is required to help prepare them independent living, further education and career opportunities. Despite that, many students receive no preparation and in other cases, students were not involved in developing their transition plans. 2007-09-26

Report Critical Of Military Recruitment in City's Schools
The Department of Education has inadequately managed military recruitment activities in the city's schools and has failed to ensure students privacy from those recruiters, says a new report by the New York Civil Liberties Union and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. The report finds that recruiters have used class time and that many students do not know of anyone in their school who could inform them of the risks of military enrollment. 2007-09-07

Dangerous Schools
The New York State Department of Education has issued a list of 27 schools considered dangerous under the No Child Left Behind Act. All but two of the schools are in New York City. Seventeen of the schools are new to the list. The total number of schools on the list increased by 11 this year, a rise the department attributed to stricter accounting and aggressive reporting. 2007-08-22

Student Test Scores Not Improved by Housing Vouchers
A federal lottery system that provides vouchers for families to move out of low income neighborhoods provides no educational benefits for the children in the those families, a new report says. The study, published in Education Next, a journal of the Hoover Institution, showed that students' test scores did not improve as a result of the move, nor did their attitude and behavior towards school. Test scores actually declined in New York, it said. But one of the researchers stressed that this is not a reason to abandon the voucher system. He cited decreases in obesity and depression as positive gains from the moves. 2007-08-17

Fewer Adults Attend College
While an increasing number of recent high school graduates in New York State attend college, the number of adults aged 25 to 49 going to college has dropped sharply in the last 10 years, according to a report by the Center for an Urban Future and the Schuyler Center. Less than 4 percent of the state’s adults with high school diplomas go to college, one of the lowest rates in the country. The report, Working to Learn, Learning to Work, blames the low college enrollment on high tuition at public colleges in New York and a lack of financial aid for adult students. 2007-08-15

Making the Grade at Middle Schools
The City Council appointed Middle School Task Force released a report yesterday detailing recommendations to combat low academic achievement in the city’s middle schools. The council, Bloomberg administration and the Department of Education have agreed to the following recommendations within the report: identify at least 50 middle schools to receive a total of $5 million to implement the task force’s recommendations, expand Regents level courses citywide and establish on ongoing discussion on reform, among other improvements. Some of the other recommendations within the report include training for middle school principals, a mandate for smaller class size and incorporating rigorous coursework. The department and the City Council intend on working together to identify the city’s middle schools in need of improvement. 2007-08-14

Budget Watchdog Flunks City's Vocational Schools
Students attending the city's vocational high schools are being shortchanged, according to a report issued by the Independent Budget Office at the request of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. The report found the schools spend less per student than general public high schools; none of the schools have state approval for all their programs; and less than half meet federal No Child Left Behind standards. 2007-08-10

Faulty Reporting in the Department of Education
According to an audit released last week by city Comptroller William Thompson, the Department of Education is not accurately keeping records for the special education services it provides. According to the audit, the department has no formal policy for monitoring these services, which can result in inaccuracies, such as records that showed services were given to students on days schools were actually closed. “The Department of Education’s special education system is in a state of dysfunction,” Thompson said in a prepared statement in regards to the audit. “The department has provided woefully inadequate oversight of its delivery of service to the point that it’s often unclear whether special education students are getting the services they need.” Out of nine recommendations, the Department of Education agreed with six, according to the comptroller's office, but it also "strongly objected" to the audit's methodology. 2007-08-01

Library Funding: Subsidies Rebound, Disparities Remain
Over the last seven years, the inflation-adjusted value of the city’s subsidy to the three public library systems — Brooklyn, New York, and Queens — fell by 8.4 percent. The subsidy has now been restored to the 2000 level, but this report from the Independent Budget Office finds that there are disparities in the allocation of the subsidy among the three library systems. 2007-07-17

City Fails to Inform Parents of Opportunities for Children with Disabilities
The Department of Education fails to provide parents of children with disabilities information on special education services or respond to their concerns about their children’s transportation, according to a new survey of parents with children in District 75 by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and the Citywide Council on Special Education. The report, based on the responses of 2,026 parents of students with moderate to severe disabilities. 2007-06-22

Marketplace of Ideas
The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy's Marketplace of Ideas brings policymakers from around the country to New York City to speak about their policy success, its impact, and their on-the-ground experience getting the policy enacted. They engage with an expert panel of New Yorkers, including city and state legislators, advocates, business representatives, religious leaders, and academics, to further discuss the policy and its implications for New York City and State. 2007-06-04

What Students Think
New York City teenagers see room for improvement in the city’s high schools according to Youth Weigh In: The Educational Priorities of New York City High School Students, a report by the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York. Among the concerns cited by students are violence and weapons at school, cramped and dilapidated facilities, little personal attention in classrooms, and not being consulted on how to improve schools. 2007-05-30

Helping Children with Special Needs
In this report, the Center for an Urban Future examines support services for children with developmental and emotional disabilities, and what the child welfare system must do to address their needs. 2007-04-10

A Thousand Cuts: Workforce Development Funding
A report by the Center for an Urban Future tracks the decline in funding for workforce development, programs designed to help students, jobseekers and workers gain new credentials and skills. The study follows cuts in 28 active funding streams, administered by 11 different agencies within state or federal government. The report (in pdf format) concludes that "New Yorkers do not derive as much value as we could from these investments" because of a lack of attention and coordination of efforts. 2007-03-27

Wasteful Spending in Pre-K Program
The city's universal pre-kingergarten program wasted $785,000 in overpayments, inappropriate payments, and questionable activities, according to this audit by the city comptroller's office. Funds given to non-public schools for pre-k services were spent on karate uniforms, an air conditioner, and private sanitation services. 2007-03-22

Room for More High School Students
A discrepancy exists between the Department of Education’s promises to increase the high school graduation rate and its plans for new and enlarged schools, according to a report by the office of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. The report, “Planning for Failure,” says that the department’s capital program calls for adding 26,000 new seats in city public high schools. This plan, according to the report, is based on projections that less than half of city public-school ninth graders will reach 12th grade. If the department meets its goal of boosting the four-year graduation rate to 70 percent, it will need almost twice as many places in high schools as it now has planned, the report concludes. 2007-03-14

Mixed Emotions on City Public Schools
The Community Service Society of New York’s (CSS) annual survey of low-income New Yorkers, The Unheard Third, reveals New Yorkers support efforts to reduce the dropout rate in public education and expand access to schools for early childhood education. The CSS survey found that New Yorkers top priority for elected officials is improving public education; with most believing that overall, city schools have shown little improvement over the last five years. There is optimism among poor parents, who give the schools their children attend improved marks since Mayor Bloomberg took control over public education. Though parents of older students, age 13 to 18, are still dissatisfied with the quality of education their children receive. 2007-02-21

Delivering City Services
The administration has released its 2007 preliminary Mayor’s Management Report, which provides statistics on the delivery of city services during the first four months of the fiscal year. According to the mayor, the figures “demonstrate that we are continuing to build on five years of successful policies and are moving the city in the right direction." Among the findings: homicides decreased slightly; streets are cleaner than ever; calls to the city’s 311 hot lines for non-emergencies increased by 7 percent; and the number of families entering the homeless shelter system rose. Most press accounts, however, focused on the 21 percent increase in major felonies in public schools. Much of that rise was in thefts of valuable items, such as laptop computers. 2007-02-16

Health-Care Careers
Between now and 2012, New York City will have about 7,600 job vacancies a year for health-care jobs that do not require a four-year college degree. But according to a report by the Office of the Public Advocate, the city Department of Education is not doing enough to prepare students for these careers. During the 2004-05 school year, only 1,254 students were enrolled in state-approved technical education for jobs in health care. Further, the report says, many of the courses that do exist do not address the real needs of the health-care industry. 2006-12-13

School Funding Court Ruling
The ruling by the Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest court, in the thirteen-year litigation known as the Campaign For Fiscal Equity v. The State of New York. Writing for the majority, Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. sums up: “In this third appeal by plaintiffs Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. et al, we address the cost of providing children in New York City’s public schools with a sound basic education. The State estimated this cost to include a minimum of $1.93 billion, in 2004 dollars, in additional annual operating funds. We conclude that this estimate was a reasonable one and that the courts should defer to this estimate, appropriately updated.” Included is the dissent by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who concludes “our trust was misplaced” in state officials “who still have failed to fund the New York City public schools adequately” and their failure is precisely the reason why deference is not owed to them. “For more than 200 years…it has been the province and duty of the judicial branch to enforce compliance with constitutional norms, including (when necessary) as against the other branches of government. Defendants’ continued failure to cure the violation properly obligated the courts to determine the extent of noncompliance and to direct a remedy.” 2006-11-21

High Schools' Annual Report
The Citywide Council on High Schools’ Annual Report recognizes the efforts of the New York City Department of Education in focusing on student achievement, accountability, and additional facilities but, in a detailed analysis of the education department's graduation and class size data, finds “a cloud of legitimacy over these numbers.” In the case of the department's graduation rate methodologies, the report concludes that they “differ from other reputable methods and... result in the most favorable statistic possible.” 2006-11-20

English Class Shortage
The number of English as a second language classes provided by New York State’s English for Speakers of Other Languages program has not kept up with the increasing demand for the courses, according to a new study by the Center for an Urban Future and the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy. In 2005, there were more than 1.6 million adults in the state with limited English skills, but just 86,433 seats in state-run English programs, the study, “Lost in Translation,” says. And in New York City, the program had only 41,585 places for the 1,230,866 adults with limited English skills. 2006-11-15

Barriers to Teaching
Bureaucracy prevents teachers from being as effective as they might otherwise be, according to a recent report based on the experiences of eight New York City public school teachers. The report by the advocacy group Common Good, “All in a Day’s Work: What’s Standing in the Way of Teacher Effectiveness?” is not representative of all teachers but sought to provide insights and spur further study. In particular, the teachers reported being hampered by the need to discipline students, standardized tests, required teaching procedures, and by various bureaucratic distractions. 2006-11-08

The Poverty Report
This report by the Mayor’s Commission for Economic Opportunity, officially entitled "Increasing Opportunity and Reducing Poverty In New York City," includes a “snapshot” of poverty in the city – over 1.5 million New Yorkers (“almost three times the entire population of Boston”) live below the poverty line; many of the poor are children; many poor adults are employed, etc. – and a set of recommendations focused on three groups: young adults 16 to 24, children under six, and the working poor. 2006-09-19

Gender Inequality In High School Sports
New York City public high school girls have fewer opportunities to play sports than boys, says this report from the Office of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Though slightly more than half of the students enrolled at 185 high schools were girls, girls teams accounted for only 44 percent of all Public School Athletic League sports. The report points out that girls fencing, soccer, golf, and swimming were scheduled in the “off-season,” when fewer college recruiters are evaluating talent, while boys teams competing in the same sports played during the regular season. 2006-08-18

Tuition At CUNY
City University of New York has become increasingly reliant on tuition over the past 17 years, as state and city aid has fallen, according to this report by the Independent Budget Office. Measured in current dollars, revenue from tuition has increased more than 90 percent, while state aid decreased by 35 percent and city aid by 24 percent. Even though both the cost of tuition and the number of students enrolled has increased, overall revenue has decreased. 2006-08-01

The Department of Education Fails to Regulate its Job Order Contract
The Department of Education (DOE) has failed to regulate and monitor its job order contracts (JOC) program, leaving it susceptible to fraud and abuse, according to an audit released today by Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. The audit also found many examples of incomplete and poor repairs performed by JOCs. 2006-06-30

Police In School
Putting police officers in violence-prone schools may cut crime, but it also increases tensions, turns harmless disputes into criminal matters and is perceived by many students as racially biased, according to a recent report by graduate students at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. 2006-06-12

Low Graduation Rates, High Taxes
New York State government’s inadequate funding of education is a major cause both of low graduation rates and high property taxes, according to “New York State’s Dual Crises: Low Graduation Rates And Rising School Taxes,” a report by the Public Policy and Education Fund. New York City has a far lower graduation rate than the average for the state, but also lower property taxes than the state average, since the city imposes a personal income tax and has other sources of local revenue. 2006-05-23

Immigrant Students: Is There a "Nativity Gap"?
This report written by two professors from New York University compares how well immigrant students in the New York City public schools perform on reading and math tests in comparison to their native born counterparts. 2006-05-12

Tax Exemptions Hurt Public Schools
A report by City Project, “Fatal Subtraction: How State-Mandated Property Tax Exemptions Subsidize New York City Private Education at the Expense of Public Schools and CUNY,” details New York City’s annual loss of at least $7.3 billion in revenue from all property tax exemptions, including educational ones. 2006-05-11

High School Admissions
The Department of Education deserves a passing grade for its administration of the high schools selection process, according to an audit by City Comptroller William Thompson. In New York City public schools, most eighth graders are not automatically assigned to a school but must apply to schools of their choosing. Although the comptroller’s report, which covers the 2004-2005 school year, found minor flaws in the system, Thompson said that the education department “has been mostly on track in implementing this new process to ensure that students get the attention and service they deserve.” 2006-04-19

Teen Smoking
Only about one in 10 New York City high school students now smoke cigarettes, according to a survey by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Education. This represents a 36 percent drop since 2001 and a 52 percent decline since 1997. The report attributes the drop to a sharp increase in cigarette taxes and to educational programs. 2006-03-14

Spending On Education Since Mayoral Control
When the mayor took control of the city's public schools in September, 2003, he promised that more money in the education budget would be made available for instruction. This shift has not yet happened in any significant way, according to an analysis of the budget by the Educational Priorities Panel, a NYC education advocacy group, "Adding Up The Numbers: The Education Budget Under Mayoral Control." 2006-01-24

City Education Spending
Although some experts predicted the city would spend more on education if the mayor got control of the school system, that seems to not be the case. In the first of a series of reports on mayoral control and education spending, the Educational Priorities Panel found that, if only the school system’s operating budget is considered, education spending dropped from 2002 to 2004. If pensions and debt service are included, school spending as a share of overall city spending has increased. 2005-11-14

Reengineering Educational Reform
In the second of three reports by the City Council in response to the court decision in the Campaign For Fiscal Equity case, "Reengineering Reform: Adopting A New Approach To An Old Problem" attempts to answer "a deceptively simple question: How can we best assure that reforms translate into improved educational practice in the city's classrooms?" Among its recommendations: creating lab schools and a "lab district" within the school system to research what will work. 2005-10-25

School Construction Spending
The New York City Department of Education spent more on building new schools and expanding schools between 2000 and 2004 than it had originally anticipated and less than it had planned on modernizing existing schools, according to an analysis of the school system’s capital spending. In reviewing $6.9 billion in spending on school construction, expansion and renovation, the Independent Budget Office found that the costs of building new schools cost 22 percent to 38 percent more than the Department of Education anticipated. 2005-09-28

Chancellor's Regulations for Parents
This report by the City Council's Education Committee gives parents a guide to the thousand or so pages of the schools chancellor's regulations. It also gives some history, explains why the regulations exist, and assesses whether they are useful. 2005-09-09

Candidates on Education
The non-profit organization Class Size Matters asked candidates for mayor, public advocate, and Manhattan borough president 25 questions about schools, education funding, and classroom policies. Candidates outlined how they plan to get money from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, if they would use buildings on Governors Island for schools, and if they support expanding the number of charter schools in the city. 2005-09-01

Issues And Proposals For The Candidates
Three leading New York civic groups have issued a report on key policy issues that they believe York’s next mayor will face over the next four years. The report, “Framing the 2005 Mayoral Debate: Issues and Proposals for the Candidates,” by the Regional Plan Association, the Center for New York City Affairs at Milano Graduate School and the Center for an Urban Future, considers major problems in such areas as education, economic development, child welfare and homelessness and presents possible solutions. The groups say the report is intended to encourage substantive discussion of policy issues in this year's municipal campaigns. 2005-08-25

The Cost Of Teachers Quitting
More than 13,000 public school teachers in New York State are expected to quit their jobs, and it will cost the state more than $200 million to replace them, according to a nationwide study by the Alliance for Excellent Education. Only Texas and California will spend more. “Nearly 3,500 certified teachers quit the city school system this year, a number that the United Federation of Teachers claims is the highest in recent memory,”according to the New York Post. “According to the union, the reasons most cited by departing teachers are salary, safety and class size.” 2005-08-16

Spending on Education
Even though the city has not gotten any money yet from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity suit on school funding, total spending for the city’s schools has risen dramatically in the past 15 years, according to a new report by the Independent Budget Office. From the 1989-1990 school year through the 2003-2004 school year, total school spending in the city, including money from the federal, state and city governments, increased by 43.4 percent. For a table detailing school spending, chart 2005-07-20

Teen Dating Violence
The Department of Education is not adequately addressing domestic violence faced by students, particularly teenage girls, according to a report released yesterday by the public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum. Although about 10 percent of victims of domestic violence treated in hospitals are under the age of 20, the report says, the school system has inadequate policies for tracking such violence nor coordinating a response. Among its recommendations are better teacher training, and the ability to transfer the batterer to another school. 2005-07-19

A Look at the Impact Schools
This Drum Major Institute report profiled the middle and high schools included in the Impact School program. It found that the schools, included for having high levels of crime and disorder, were more likely to be overcrowded and underfunded, and more likely to have overage students, and to serve a student body consisting of poor, black students compared to average high schools. 2005-06-10

Low Graduation Rates
Only 12 percent of all public school students who received special education services graduated with regular high school diplomas in the past eight years, according to a new report by Advocates for Children. The advocacy group found that that rate lags far behind the gradation rates for special education students in the state and the country. 2005-06-08

Paying for NYC Schools
A report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy analyzes New York's tax system and its ability to raise the additional revenue required to adequately fund education. The report assesses the state's personal and corporate income taxes, property taxes, and sales and excise taxes, with an eye toward evaluating options for revenue-raising tax reform that may help lawmakers comply with the New York Court of Appeals' June 2003 decision requiring the state to raise additional revenues for education. 2005-04-15

School Spending
A commission appointed by City Council to consider how the city should spend any additional education money it receives from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit has recommended focusing on improving the quality of teaching by giving teachers raises, providing more rigorous assessments of teachers, improving professional development and weeding out bad staff. 2005-04-12

Anti-Semitism At Columbia
An ad-hoc committee put together by Columbia University released a report responding to a student video charging that professors harassed Jewish students during debates over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The report said that there was no evidence of anti-Semitism, though it did document one instance in which a professor acted inappropriately. The report was critical, however, of the University's handling of student complaints. 2005-04-01

Preliminary Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal Year 2005
The Preliminary Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal Year 2005, according to City Hall, "provides an early update of how the City is performing four months into the fiscal year," offering "performance highlights and statistics for agencies, as well as data on inquiries received by the 311 Citizen Service Center." Also, Search by agency 2005-02-15

Missing Classrooms
New York City created about 700 fewer new classrooms than it was supposed to between 1999 and 2002 despite more than $225 million in state aid, according to a audit by the state comptroller released this week. The audit was completed in 2003 but was reportedly released only after city education officials recently said that the state determined the money had been used properly -- a claim that State Comptroller Alan Hevesi said is "completely inaccurate." 2005-02-04

Out of School, Out of Work... Out of Luck? New York City's Disconnected Youth
A new report released by the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), a nonpartisan, not-for-profit, antipoverty organization, reveals that 16 percent of New York City's 16 through 24-year-olds are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market. 2005-01-21