New Issue Brief: An Education Agenda for New York City

The education system needs structural reform, not an inflated budget

NEW YORK, NY – After Mayor Mamdani campaigned on ending mayoral control of New York City schools, he has now decided to keep it—and with it, responsibility for the system’s failures and successes. 

In a new issue brief, Manhattan Institute fellows Jennifer Weber, Ray Domanico, and Danyela Souza Egorov argue that City Hall has the authority, and the obligation, to address deep structural problems in the nation’s largest school system.

The authors evaluate the City’s Department of Education (DoE) performance and find a troubling picture: student outcomes remain well below where they stood a decade ago. They partly attribute this decline to decisions made in City Hall between 2014 and 2021, as well as the lasting effects of pandemic-era disruptions.

At the same time, education spending continues to climb despite falling enrollment. According to the brief, the DoE’s budget has increased by nearly 26 percent and is poised to grow further, even as enrollment has fallen by more than 20 percent since 2003 and is projected to continue declining. The authors describe how the school system remains organized for a much larger student population than it now serves, creating inefficiencies without improving student outcomes.

Weber, Domanico, and Egorov argue that spending more will not fix what is wrong with New York City’s schools. Instead, they contend that New York City’s education challenges are structural and can be addressed within the city’s existing capacity and resources. Their recommendations include:  

• Consolidating under-enrolled schools 
• Reducing administrative overhead 
• Restructuring community school districts 
• Strengthening school accountability 
• Reforming costly special education practices 
• Expanding high-quality academic pathways for students 

With mayoral control preserved, they conclude, City Hall has the resources to set an agenda that could strengthen New York City’s schools and improve outcomes for students. 

Click here to read the full issue brief.