Half of New York City's schools are failing to educate students, with students failing English and math tests.

A new report from the charter school network Success Academy claims that nearly half of New York City public school students attend schools that are systematically failing. The study's authors accuse the government of inflating grades, concealing real problems, and wasting billions of dollars. NYPost tells in more detail.

New York City's public education system has normalized academic failure, according to a new report by the charter school network Success Academy, titled "By Any Honest Measure."

According to the study, in 906 state schools In New York City, less than half of students passed state tests in math, reading, or both.

In total, about 43% of the approximately 912,000 students attend such schools. pupils city ​​education system.

Of these 906 schools:

• In 503 schools, the majority of students failed both math and reading;
• about a third have been on the list of low-performing schools since 2012;
• Some have been considered problematic for decades.

The report's authors accused the authorities of concealing problems.

Instead of addressing the crisis, city and regional authorities have only made it worse, the report claims.

According to the authors, officials are either failing to take the necessary measures or concealing the scale of the problem.

"This is no accident. It is the result of a system that, year after year, chooses to protect itself rather than its students," the report states.

On the subject: A New York school teacher possessed child sexual abuse pornography and pleaded guilty in court.

The authors compared the situation to a hospital where more than half of the patients die after routine operations, or a fire department that fails to respond to most calls.

In their opinion, no other government agency could continue to operate with such indicators.

Failure to achieve academic success is concealed by inflating grades.

Success Academy President Eva Moskowitz said the report was the most comprehensive analysis of chronically failing schools in recent memory.

The authors argue that real learning outcomes are being hidden through a system of grade inflation.

When assigning final grades, the following are taken into account:

• attendance;
• diligence;
• participation in classes.

However, the results of state examinations in English and mathematics are not taken into account.

The system was introduced following a decision by the city's Education Policy Council under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

As a result, most students who score poorly on state tests still receive good grades and are promoted to the next grade.

Teachers are almost always recognized as effective

The report also states that student results are prohibited from being used in teacher evaluations. As a result, almost all teachers receive positive performance reviews.

The authors provide illustrative statistics:

• 98% of teachers are considered effective;
• Moreover, 43% of students study in schools with unsatisfactory results.

"The math doesn't add up here," the study says.

New York City spends record amounts on education

New York City will spend approximately $40 billion on public education in 2024. That's $36,293 per student, more than double the national average of $17,619.

At the same time, schools with the lowest results receive even more funds – over $40,000 per student.

The report's authors believe that funding is not accompanied by an improvement in the quality of education.

The situation gets worse with age.

According to the study:

• 34% of primary school students attend low-performing schools;
• among secondary school students this figure reaches 49%;
• among high school students - 62%.

In many cases, children move from a weak primary school to a weak middle school and then to a weak high school.

As a result, many graduates are unprepared for college and are forced to take additional preparatory courses to enter the community colleges of the City University of New York system.

The authors criticized the state's educational policy.

The report also accuses the New York State Department of Education of regularly lowering standards on math and reading tests in order to increase test pass rates.

According to the authors, this is especially noticeable when compared with the results of the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress exam, which is considered the benchmark for assessing school students' knowledge.

Furthermore, the report claims that state authorities have stopped publishing comparative data between public and charter schools. The study's authors believe this is because charter schools, on average, perform better.

The law on reducing class sizes was called a mistake.

The law reducing class sizes has come under particular criticism. It was supported by Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislators.

The authors note that since 2020, the number of students in New York City public schools has declined by 123,000. Despite this, schools have remained virtually unaffected by closures and mergers.

Of the approximately 900 low-performing schools:

• 167 are significantly understaffed;
• More than 800 schools out of approximately 1,800 city institutions educate fewer than 400 students;
• In 241 schools the number of students does not exceed 200 people.

Meanwhile, funding for these schools remains virtually unchanged. According to the authors, this leads to inefficient spending of budget funds.

What solutions do the authors propose?

The report suggests the following as possible measures:

• make test results more accessible to the public;
• take student achievement into account when evaluating schools and teachers;
• abandon the artificial increase of exam results;
• stop the practice of inflating grades;
• reduce ineffective budget expenditures.

New York City officials disagree with the findings.

The New York State Department of Education rejected the report's findings.

The department said Success Academy is trying to use the study to advance its position against restrictions on new charter schools in New York City.

The department emphasized that all information on school results is publicly available. According to agency representatives, the system is regularly improved to make the data more understandable and user-friendly for parents, teachers, and the public. Furthermore, officials noted that testing results for 2020 and 2021 were limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In turn, the New York City Department of Education called the report biased and containing false information.

The agency stated that last year, city schools demonstrated their highest reading and math scores in a decade. According to the agency, authorities continue to expand student support programs. Investments in improving the quality of education are also increasing.