August 8th 2023.
New York City is facing a crisis in its public school system as parents are turning away from the Department of Education in record numbers. According to the New York Post, the number of kindergarten students enrolled in school dropped from 71,468 to 59,564 between the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years, which is a drop of 17%.
Experts believe that many of these parents are abandoning traditional public schools due to the lack of safety and resources that the Department of Education provides. In some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, parents are turning to publicly-funded, private charter schools as viable alternatives. Alina Adams, author of Getting Into NY Kindergarten, believes that “parents don’t think a general-ed public school will meet their child’s needs. The fact is, the bar in New York is so low, all children could do a higher level of work.”
Donald Niang, a father of two, chose a charter school in Harlem over one in his district for his kindergartener this year. He believes that “these charter schools, they introduce kids to things that broaden their horizons and open their minds.” This is especially true for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, where the same opportunities are not available in traditional public schools.
Marsha Taylor, a Harlem mom, is glad she made the same switch, enrolling her two kids into a local charter school. She stated that “I have not regretted my decision,” and cited the plummeting test scores, neglected buildings, and overcrowded classrooms of traditional public schools as the deciding factors in her choice.
The New York Post reported that over 37,600 students have been transferred out of NYC and 18,000 have been enrolled into charter schools instead. Despite the city’s public school system’s shortcomings, New York charter school students perform among the best in the country.
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