A sweeping new report is sounding the alarm over New York City’s public education system, alleging that academic failure has become deeply entrenched across hundreds of schools while officials mask the problem through grade inflation, lowered standards, and policies that reward poor performance instead of fixing it.
The report, released Tuesday by the Success Academy Charter Schools network, examined student achievement throughout the city’s public schools and concluded that 906 campuses had fewer than half of their students passing state math exams, reading exams, or both during the past school year.
According to the analysis, roughly 43% of the city’s approximately 912,000 public school students attend one of those underperforming schools.
Among those 906 schools, the report found that 503 had majorities of students who failed both math and reading assessments.
Researchers also determined that about one-third of those schools have appeared on New York State accountability lists dating back to 2012, with some carrying failing designations for decades.
Rather than confronting the crisis, the report argues that state and city leaders have adopted policies that either ignore the academic decline or conceal its true scope.
“These are not accidents. They are the product of a system that has chosen, year after year, to protect itself rather than serve its students,” the report, titled, “By Any Honest Measure,” said.
To illustrate the severity of the situation, the report compares the education system to other public services where such widespread failure would never be tolerated.
“Imagine a hospital where more than half of patients died from routine procedures. A fire department that failed to respond to more than half its calls. A municipal water utility that delivered contaminated water to more than half its residents, or air traffic controllers whose lack of oversight regularly resulted in massive casualties.
“No other public institution would be permitted to operate in this way.”
The report contends that, unlike those examples, failure within New York City’s public schools has become accepted and hidden from public view.
Eva Moskowitz, head of Success Academy, described the study as the most comprehensive examination yet of schools that have consistently produced poor academic results.
The report further argues that policymakers have effectively incentivized failure by directing increasing amounts of funding toward struggling schools even as student enrollment continues to decline.
New York City spent approximately $40 billion on public education in 2024, equating to $36,293 per student—about twice the national average of $17,619.
According to the report, the lowest-performing schools receive even greater financial support, with spending exceeding $40,000 per student.
The findings show that academic struggles become more widespread as students advance through the system. About 34% of elementary school students attend failing schools, compared with 49% of middle school students and 62% of high school students, based on state exam results.
In many instances, students move from one failing school to another throughout their educational careers, progressing from struggling elementary schools into similarly underperforming middle and high schools.
The report also notes that many graduates leave high school unprepared for college coursework and must enroll in remedial classes upon entering the City University of New York’s community colleges.
Researchers argue that the academic picture would appear even worse without widespread grade inflation, asserting that the systems used to evaluate both students and teachers have little connection to actual learning.
Current grading policies emphasize factors such as attendance, participation, and effort, while excluding results from the state’s standardized English and math exams.
That policy was adopted after the Panel for Educational Policy, during the administration of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, eliminated the use of state test scores as part of student grades.
As a result, the report says, students who perform poorly on state assessments frequently receive passing grades anyway and continue advancing to the next grade level.
At the same time, New York State bars districts from using student test performance as part of teacher evaluations, leading to overwhelmingly positive ratings for educators.
Summarizing the disconnect, the report states: “98% of teachers [rated] effective. 43% of students failing. The math doesn’t add up.”
The report also criticizes the New York State Education Department, accusing it of repeatedly lowering proficiency benchmarks on state math and reading exams in order to increase passing rates.
It argues that the lowered standards become evident when New York students perform substantially worse on the federally administered National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, which are widely regarded as the nation’s benchmark assessment.
According to the report, state officials in Albany have played a role in minimizing or obscuring the extent of academic failure.
Researchers also point out that the state no longer publishes direct comparisons of standardized test performance between traditional public schools and charter schools, where students generally achieve stronger results.
The report further faults lawmakers for limiting access to higher-performing charter schools by maintaining a cap on the number of charter campuses permitted to open.
It also notes that about ten years ago the state Legislature replaced the designation “persistently failing school” with the less severe label “persistently struggling.”
Among the report’s sharpest criticisms is New York’s class-size reduction mandate, which it describes as a costly policy mistake endorsed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers.
According to the report, the legislation—supported by United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew—was enacted even though public school enrollment has fallen by approximately 123,000 students since 2020.
Researchers argue that the New York City Department of Education failed to respond appropriately by consolidating or closing schools despite years of declining enrollment.
The report adds that many struggling schools already have relatively small class sizes because families have left them, and it says research does not support the claim that mandated classroom caps will improve academic performance. Of the roughly 900 failing schools identified in the report, 167 were significantly under-enrolled.
It also criticizes the Education Department for continuing to financially support schools that have lost large numbers of students rather than restructuring the system.
According to the report, more than 800 of the city’s approximately 1,800 public schools now enroll fewer than 400 students, while 241 have fewer than 200 students.
The report says elected officials have compounded the problem by shielding those schools from funding reductions, allowing them to retain previous budget levels despite serving far fewer students.
“Failing schools rob children of their futures,” the report said. “Under-enrolled schools drain the budget for no return.
“The class size mandate will spend billions more on schools where class size is already low — and where it has demonstrably not helped,” it adds. “New York City cannot afford any of this in the midst of a significant educational crisis.”
Among its recommendations, the report calls for greater public access to testing data, linking teacher and school evaluations to student achievement, ending grade inflation, preserving rigorous testing standards, and reducing what it describes as unnecessary education spending.
The New York State Education Department rejected the report’s conclusions, noting that Success Academy has long opposed the law limiting the expansion of charter schools in New York City.
“It is the New York State Education Department’s responsibility to meet schools where they are so that every student – regardless of zip code – has an opportunity to succeed,” the SED statement said.
“Success Academy’s report is a vehicle to detract from its attempts to circumvent the New York City charter cap and promote its academic achievements by comparing one limited data sample to another.”
The department also disputed claims that it hides education data, saying its reports remain available to the public.
“NYSED has continually modified its reporting tools and data presentations to improve accessibility and usability for families, educators, and community stakeholders through the school report card which is publicly available on the NYSED website. These enhancements were designed to make complex information more understandable and meaningful,” the statement said.
“Additionally, the report fails to acknowledge that there was no assessment data in 2020 and significantly limited data in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
{Matzav.com}
