Comptroller Levine Releases New Report Showing Scale of NYC’s Declining Public School Population

 

Report tracks citywide and district-level enrollment trends, demographic shifts, and growing student needs  

The Office of New York City Comptroller Mark Levine today released Tracking the K-12 Student Population in NYC, a report on enrollment, demographic, and district-level trends. This report provides policymakers, families and the public with an understanding of how New York City’s student population is changing, where those shifts are occurring, and how students’ needs are evolving.

“Declining school enrollment is not only a challenge for our education system –it raises fundamental questions about affordability, the ability of young families to build a future in New York, and the kind of city we want to be,” said City Comptroller Mark Levine. “The needs of our students are changing at the same time, as a growing number of students face economic hardship and require specialized support. We need to understand these trends to make our schools stronger, direct resources where they are needed most and give all kids the education they deserve.”

New York City public schools’ K-12 enrollment fell by 19% between the 2013-14 to 2025-26 school years, a decrease of 187,000 students. When including 3K and pre-K enrollment, which rose over that period, public school total enrollment dropped 148,000 students. In school year 2025-26, public schools experienced its largest post-pandemic enrollment drop, losing nearly 22,000 students in a single year. The School Construction Authority has projected enrollment could decrease by 128,000 students by 2034-35 school year.

The report shows that the overall decline in enrollment can’t be explained by students shifting to charter schools, private schools, or homeschooling. Families have appeared to leave the city as their children get older, with the steepest enrollment drop off occurring between the 5th and 6th grades as children transition from elementary to middle school. The report also shows those who remain enrolled in public schools are increasingly students with disabilities, English language learners, and those in temporary housing.

The report also found:

• A population with substantial needs. Approximately 73% of students live in poverty, while 14% live in temporary housing or experience homelessness. The number of public school students with disabilities and English-language learners has also increased.

• Citywide enrollment decrease. Public school enrollment has declined in every district, all of which have seen a decline in total student population (including charter and private school students in addition to public schools). The scale of these declines varies, however, with the sharpest drops in Upper Manhattan, the Lower East Side, parts of the Bronx, and Central Brooklyn.

• Shifting demographics. The share of Black students in public schools was 19% during the last school year, which was a 7-point decrease from 26% in the 2013-14 school year. This reflects the loss of more than 200,000 Black New Yorkers reported over the last two decades.

• Decreasing impact from charter schools. After significant increases in prior years, since 2021-22 year-over-year growth in charter school enrollment has generally remained less than 2% and hasn’t surpassed 4%. Charter elementary and middle school enrollment is concentrated in the South Bronx, Upper Manhattan, and Central Brooklyn. The portion of students enrolled in NYCPS is highest in Queens Districts 25 and 26, with the lowest occurring in Brooklyn Districts 14 and 17, Manhattan District 5 and the Bronx District 7.

You can read the report here: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/tracking-the-k-12-student-population-in-nyc