New York school districts are seeking voter approval of budgets that would raise their per-pupil spending by an average of more than four times the projected inflation rate. Most districts have proposed property tax hikes as high as the maximum allowed without supermajority overrides under the tax cap law. Read More
Rochester schools are laying off 152 teachers, but there’s little doubt which educators are on the chopping block. Read More
NY's Excelsior Scholarship program is crudely designed, regressive and wasteful. Read More
NY's Excelsior Scholarship program is regressive and wasteful Read More
Earlier this week, the Empire Center did its own report on the plummeting numbers when it comes to students. Overall, the 2019-20 enrollment is at its lowest levels in New York state in the last 30 years. Read More
As reported by the Empire Center last week, “The number of students enrolled in New York state public schools is the lowest recorded in 30 years.” Since 2000, enrollment in public schools has declined by more than 10 percent statewide with most of it upstate as enrollment in New York City schools has increased 1.3 percent in the last 10 years. Students are not leaving to go to private or parochial schools either because they, too, are showing declines, down about 8 percent in the last decade. Read More
Mount Morris had the highest increase among any district outside of New York City, according to a report released Tuesday by The Empire Center for Public Policy in Albany. Read More
According to a report from the Empire Center released Wednesday, public school enrollment statewide for the 2018-2019 school year has decreased to levels not seen since the early 1990s. The last school year saw a drop alone of 30,338 pupils from the previous school year. Read More