It’s no secret that the city’s schools have been shedding kids in droves for the past few years, yet new data — showing big drops in kindergarten enrollment — now highlight what’s behind the flight.
To be blunt: Traditional city public schools are failing to deliver for students; parents see it and are now avoiding them right from the start — with many opting for better-performing charter schools.
As The Post reported, more than 11,900 fewer kids signed up for kindergarten in the city’s regular schools last school year than in 2016-17.
That’s a striking 17% drop.
District 9 in The Bronx saw a whopping 29% plunge.
The percentage loss of kindergartners topped that for all grades, about 14%, or nearly 150,000 kids.
Meanwhile, charters have added about 20,000 to their rolls — an 18% spike.
Again, it’s easy to see why: In the 2021-22 school year, charters boasted higher proficiency rates on state tests among their third- through eighth-grade kids than traditional schools: 46.3% vs. 37.9% in math and 55.3% vs. 49.0% for reading.
“My older daughter was in a charter school, and the teachers were always calling and talking to the parents about behavior, academic stuff,” says Angyelina Almonte. “I think the teachers are more engaged with parents” at the charters.
Almonte is now considering sending her 3-year-old to a charter, too.
Sure, other factors — parents opting for private schools or leaving the city altogether — contribute to falling enrollments in the public schools.
But for New York families looking to remain in the city, it’s outrageous that traditional schools, despite nation-leading per-student spending, don’t offer better results. And that options are limited.
That’s right: Not only do the regulars fail to deliver, but lawmakers in Albany actually cap the number of charters, lest too many families switch, leaving non-charters with too few kids.
Those regular schools, you see, are generally dominated by the teachers union, which fears competition from the largely non-unionized (and more successful) charters.
And lawmakers are beholden to the union, given its considerable political support (and campaign money).
It’s tragic: The charter cap has left tens of thousands of parents on waiting lists. Many, no doubt, must thus leave the city altogether.
Worst of all? As the new numbers suggest, the flight out doesn’t seem likely to end any time soon.