The latest federal data show New York's public school system has the highest per-pupil spending of any state; New York City has the highest per-pupil spending among the nation’s 50 largest school districts; and New York teachers have the highest average pay while pupil-teacher ratio is among the lowest. Read More
This report analyzes how well 66 executive branch agencies are using the internet and technology platforms to meet their FOIL obligations (see table below). It evaluates how user-friendly agency websites are for making FOIL requests. And it examines to what extent agencies are using, or not using, technology to make both the agency’s and the public’s FOIL experiences better. Read More
As state budget preparations head into their final weeks, a confrontation is brewing over Medicaid, the state-run health plan for the low-income and disabled. Governor Hochul has holding the state’s $36 billion share of Medicaid funding essenti Read More
The headlong, secretive process around implementing New York's 2019 Climate Act – inherited from a governor who resigned in disgrace – runs the risk of saddling New Yorkers with both a less reliable electrical grid and rules across the entire economy that impose enormous expense. Read More
The 2023 edition of What They Make, the Empire Center’s annual report on public payrolls, allows New York taxpayers to compare this key element of local government costs around the state. Read More
Enrollment in New York public schools this year sank to the lowest level since the early 1950s, according to preliminary state Education Department (NYSED) data. Read More
Long-delayed data showing outcomes from New York’s 2023 state assessment tests—taken by students in grades 3 to 8 in June—were finally released last week. It marks the second year in a row that state education officials have failed to release t Read More
Most school board members in New York's largest school districts were elected with teachers' union support and many are themselves teachers' union members. Read More