“New York State has ranked first nationally in school district spending per pupil for 15 straight years, a reflection of the state’s longstanding commitment to provide all students with the opportunity to excel as learners, workers, and citizens.” This boast appears in the Budget Briefing Book that Governor Kathy Hochul submitted to the state legislature last winter. The state’s last three governors, going back to 2008, have all made similar statements. If only this largesse had delivered higher achievement or greater educational opportunities for the state’s neediest students.
Unfortunately, results for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), as published in the recently released Nation’s Report Card, confirm that the state’s model has failed to deliver on its promises. And note, this assessment was true even before the disastrous Covid school shutdowns; the past three years have only made a bad situation worse.
Despite being a national leader in educational spending, New York ranks in the middle of the pack in reading scores among 52 jurisdictions (the 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Department of Defense schools). New York’s fourth-grade student reading scores were not significantly different from those of students in 39 jurisdictions and better than those of four. In eighth grade, New York is roughly tied with 32 states and ahead of 16.
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