The New York City School System

I. NYC System: an Overview II. Fact sheets and Statistics III. NYC-specific School Programs IV. Choosing a School

Some Facts and Statistics about the New York City School System

• In NYC there are 1.1 million public school children, comprising 37% of NYS students.
• The NYC schools serve over 63% of the NYS students living in poverty and the schools serve predominantly minority students: 36.3% Black, 37.1% Hispanic, 16% White and 10% Other^*
• One-third of the City's 7.3 million residents is foreign-born and another 15% are children of foreign-born parents. Eighty percent of all of New York State's Least English Proficient (LEP) students were enrolled in NYC, resulting in 16.7% of the 1.2 million children enrolled in the City's public schools being identified as LEP.
• Between 1995-1998 alone, nearly 112,000 immigrant students registered for public school in New York City.
• Thirteen percent of all NYC school children (160,000 students) are receiving special education services. (This number does not include all of the other children with disabilities who are receiving or entitled to accomodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.)

Some other interesting and helpful fact sheets and statistics:

The Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc.'s State of Learning in NYC Public Schools has many revealing statistics about the NYC district in comparison to New York State averages.

The New York State Education Department website has a statistical profile for the NYC school district which gives many numbers and statistics about the children in NYC schools.

Facts and Figures 1998 from the NYC Board of Ed gives background facts, including a map of the 32 community school districts.

^*The University of the State of New York/NYS Education Department (2/99), New York, A State of Learning, A Report to the Governor.

back to The New York City School System: an Overview.