The results have come in regarding spending on New York schools for the upcoming year. According to the fiscal watchdog group, Empire Center for Public Policy, New York State increased school spending this year by 4.4%. This brings the average per-pupil cost in New York State to an astounding $33,000. This is approximately twice the national average. https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/school-budgets-outpace-inflation-as-districts-plan-to-spend-over-33k-per-student/
And what have we gotten for this massive spending? Test scores for New York students hover below that of Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina and are stuck in the middle of the pack of the 50 states. This proves that the money in New York is spent unwisely and inefficiently for the benefit of teachers unions and is being swallowed up by administrative black holes. New York taxpayers would be more willing to tolerate such outlandish costs if it resulted in verifiable enhancement of student performance, but it does not.
Instead of our state leaders seeking to raise standards, they are doing exactly the opposite by removing the requirement to pass the Regents exam as a prerequisite for graduation. https://nypost.com/2024/06/13/opinion/trashing-nys-regents-exams-will-hurt-our-students/
Einstein‘s famous definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result — comes into play here. When will we stop listening to these teachers unions and the politicians they have in their pocket who tried to tell us all the spending is for the children?
This most recent increase comes on top of huge spending increases since the pandemic. All of that money that floated in from Washington as one-shots went into our local budgets to raise the base of our school districts and has now become the new normal.
And some people wonder why so many New Yorkers are looking for the exits?