Historical public education information in New York, 2011-2015

---

This article does not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.

---

Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on New York's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view New York's public education page.

The New York public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 New York had 2,704,718 students enrolled in a total of 4,752 schools in 923 school districts. While the national ratio of teachers to students was 1:16, in New York there were 209,527 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 13 students. There was roughly one administrator for every 293 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average New York spent $19,076 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 77 percent in 2012. This was the Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate reported to the United States Department of Education for all students in 2011-2012.

State agencies

See also: New York State Education Department

The New York State Education Department is led by the New York Commissioner of Education. John King served in that role from June 2011 until his resignation in January 2015. Elizabeth Berlin served in the office as of June 2015. The State Education Department has eight main offices: the Office of P-12 Education, the Office of Higher Education, the Office of Cultural Education, the Office of Performance Improvement and Management Services, the Chief Financial Office, the Office of Counsel, the Office of the Professions and the Office of Adult Career and Continuing Educational Services.

The mission statement of the New York State Education Department reads:

“

Our mission is to raise the knowledge, skill, and opportunity of all the people in New York. Our vision is to provide leadership for a system that yields the best educated people in the world.

”

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how New York compared to three neighboring states with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil during the 2011-2012 school year. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
New York	4,752	923	2,704,718	209,527	1:12.9	1:293.2	$19,076
Massachusetts	1,835	401	953,369	69,342	1:13.7	1:210.1	$13,941
New Jersey	2,596	700	1,356,431	109,719	1:12.4	1:288.0	$15,968
Pennsylvania	3,181	784	1,771,395	124,646	1:14.2	1:334.6	$13,467
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	1:16	1:295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12" U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in New York as reported in the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for New York's K-12 public school system
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	United States percentage**
American Indian	14,675	0.54%	1.10%
Asian	226,656	8.38%	4.68%
African American	500,175	18.49%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.	5,214	0.19%	0.42%
Hispanic	630,920	23.33%	24.37%
White	1,304,500	48.23%	51.21%
Two or More	22,578	0.83%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

During the 2011-2012 school year a majority of New York students attended city or suburban schools. This was the same in Massachusetts. However, in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, students were more likely to attend rural schools than city schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural Schools
New York	44.1%	35.3%	7.3%	13.2%
Massachusetts	20.8%	66.1%	2.2%	11.0%
New Jersey	7.2%	80.8%	2.0%	10.0%
Pennsylvania	19.2%	45.7%	12.1%	23.0%
U.S. average	28.9%	34.0%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), New York had the lowest percentage of students score at or above proficient in math and reading in fourth grade and eighth grade for the 2012-2013 school year.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
New York	40%	32%	37%	35%
Massachusetts	58%	55%	47%	48%
New Jersey	49%	49%	42%	46%
Pennsylvania	44%	42%	40%	42%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for New York and surrounding states for 2012 and 2013.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
New York	77%	Fourth	23.3	29%	1463	76%
Massachusetts	85%	Second	24.1	23%	1553	83%
New Jersey	86%	First	23.4	20%	1521	78%
Pennsylvania	84%	Second	22.4	18%	1480	71%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for New York was higher than the national average at 3.6 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 3.8 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in New York

New York had the sixth-highest private school attendance rate in the United States as of 2014. Other school choice options in the state included charter schools, homeschooling, online learning and voluntary inter-district public school open enrollment.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: New York state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), New York spent approximately 19.8 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. This was down 1.1 percentage points, a 5.3 percent decrease in the share of the budget from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 20.9 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education. Just over half of New York's education revenue comes from local funding. State funding accounts for just over 40 percent, and federal funding accounts for approximately nine percent.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
New York	19.8%	$19,076	8.9%	40.27%	50.82%
Massachusetts	10.7%	$13,941	7.85%	37.91%	54.24%
New Jersey	24.7%	$15,968	5.14%	37.06%	57.8%
Pennsylvania	18.4%	$13,467	12.74%	34.2%	53.06%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in New York totaled approximately $57.6 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including revenue sources, for New York and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
New York	$5,127,425	$23,189,453	$29,266,236	$57,583,114
Massachusetts	$1,197,383	$5,783,240	$8,275,257	$15,255,880
New Jersey	$1,320,021	$9,521,328	$14,847,190	$25,688,539
Pennsylvania	$3,469,273	$9,309,365	$14,444,802	$27,223,440
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=650x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Federal revenue,State revenue,Local revenue New York,8.90,40.27,50.82 Massachusetts,7.85,37.91,54.24 New Jersey,5.14,37.06,57.8 Pennsylvania,12.74,34.20,53.06 U.S. total,12.34,44.09,43.56 </pbars>

Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in New York totaled approximately $58.5 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including expenditure types, for New York and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
New York	$51,203,701	$4,655,961	$2,680,715	$58,540,377
Massachusetts	$12,894,969	$817,228	$767,052	$14,479,249
New Jersey	$22,686,943	$930,701	$1,393,507	$25,011,151
Pennsylvania	$23,541,287	$2,269,812	$1,477,788	$27,288,887
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=500x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Current expenditures,Capital outlay,Other New York,87.47,7.95,4.58 Massachusetts,89.06,5.64,5.30 New Jersey,90.71,3.72,5.57 Pennsylvania,86.27,8.32,5.42 U.S. total,86.31,8.78,4.90 </pbars>

Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in New York, the average salary increased by eight percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
New York	$69,723	$76,464	$74,620	$75,279	8.0%
Massachusetts	$63,656	$73,945	$72,915	$73,129	14.9%
New Jersey	$71,083	$69,523	$68,194	$68,797	-3.2%
Pennsylvania	$66,035	$63,146	$62,965	$63,521	-3.8%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012, the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. New York ranked ninth overall, or strongest, which was in the first tier of five.

The main union related to the New York school system is the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA).

List of local New York school unions:

• American Federation of Teachers (New York City)
• New York State United Teachers
• New York State United Teachers (Latham)
• National Education Association Of New York
• Buffalo Teachers Federation
• Yonkers Federation Of Teachers
• American Federation of Teachers (Rochester)
• American Federation of Teachers (Niagra Falls)
• Catholic Lay Teachers Group Of The Archdiocese Of New York
• American Federation of Teachers (Ronkonkoma)

Government sector lobbying

See also: New York government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the New York State School Boards Association.

Transparency

The state of New York has two transparency resources that monitor government spending: Open Book New York, created by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and Project Sunlight, created by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in New York
• New York
• Education Policy in the U.S.