By Zilvinas Silenas, EmpireCenter.org, https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/60485/ |
| As voters across New York head to the polls to decide their local school budgets, the big question – why New York schools deliver poor results despite spending the most in the nation – is barely on anyone’s mind. New York’s fourth-grade and eighth-grade students score below the U.S. average in mathematics, and only about average in reading. In Grade 4, New York is outshined by Mississippi and Florida in reading and Texas and Massachusetts in mathematics. At the same time, New York is planning to spend $37,033 per student in the 2026–27 school year. That represents a 4.9 percent increase over the current year—well above inflation, and nearly double the U.S. average, which was $17,619 in 2024. This pattern isn’t new. But the scale is becoming harder to ignore. Across the state, most districts plan to increase total spending, yet only roughly a quarter expect student enrollment to grow. In fact, statewide enrollment is projected to fall by more than 1 percent next year.At the same time, we have significantly more teachers than other states. Based on Federal data, New York has 11.7 students per teacher, while the U.S. average is 15.4. For comparison, private universities have 11.3 students for each faculty member. One would think that having more teachers to teach fewer students would allow teachers to pay more attention to each student. Yet, New York performs worse than Florida (18.3 students per teacher), Texas (14.8 students per teacher), or Mississippi (13 students per teacher). |
New York also pays teachers more, with average full-time pay reaching nearly $100,000. Half of the full-time educators earned more than $90,000, and in some school districts, the average pay exceeds $120,000 – meaning some people make even more. Finally, some superintendents manage to take home $370,000 for managing a school district.
Consequently, what New York spends on K-12 schools – $90 billion – is enough to run a state or country; the total budget of Ukraine, a country fighting a full-scale war, is $113 billion.
Even the district with the lowest spending at $24,000 exceed what most U.S. states spend per student. More than half of the New York school districts will spend over $37,000 – easily outspending every other state and country. Finally, 67 districts plan to exceed $50,000 per student – basically, a private-boarding-school-in-Europe type of money.
New York has built an education system that spends at elite levels, staffs at near private-college ratios, and pays accordingly—yet delivers results that are, at best, middling.
Small or rural school districts get into even more ridiculous numbers. Newcomb (Adirondacks) will spend $176,358, followed by Fire Island at $147,860, Bridgehampton at $129,062, and Whitesville in western New York at $110,335. At these prices, tuition at Harvard, one of the most expensive universities in the country at $59,000 is a bargain.
If New York outshone every state in education, we could have a deep discussion about how much education we can afford. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Right now, New York’s K-12 system produces mediocre results at exorbitant prices, and, unless something changes, it is only going to get worse.
New York is losing people, including school-aged children, but no one wants to reduce spending on education. If politicians keep reducing class sizes – as they have been until now – that means even more teachers and more dollars to educate a single student.
At the same time, New York’s education bureaucrats are planning to reduce standardized testing, which would further obscure how New York’s K-12 system is performing. Less standardized testing, less meaningful comparisons, less accountability.
Given New York’s financial resources, we should have the best education system in the world. Sadly, we lead the world in spending, not achievement. Until something changes, New York’s students will continue being robbed of opportunities their parents and taxpayers paid for.
