Mayor Adams, face facts and close failing schools before its too late

When Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos decided last month not to adjust New York City’s public school budgets mid-year, it only delayed the inevitable: New York City has too many district schools — and some of them need to close.Since 2016, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment in the city’s district schools has declined by 130,000, almost 14%.Kindergarten enrollment, in particular, has decreased by 17%, a sign that the problem is entrenched.The numbers would be even worse but for the influx of 40,000 migrant students — a trend that’s unlikely to continue as President-elect Donald Trump enacts his proposed border and deportation policies.This decline in enrollment without accompanying budget cuts has ballooned the city’s education spending to approximately $39,000 per student, making NYC the most lavishly funded urban district in the country.But it’s all smoke and mirrors of a sort: The city Department of Education has yet to face the “fiscal cliff” that will come in 2026, when federal pandemic aid disappears — costing it an estimated $556 million in lost government grants.The situation is untenable, and closing and consolidating schools is the only viable solution.The alternative, “holding harmless” schools’ budgets despite considerable drops in enrollment, is worse.Currently, multiple city schools have fewer than 100 students.

Their performance is disastrous, yet their per-pupil cost is the same as that of the most expensive private schools in the city.For $63,007 per student at MS 514 in West Harlem, for example, students should be receiving a top-notch education.In reality, the school prepares just 21% of students to read at grade level.This perverse dynamic has changed the incentives for principals.

If they can lose students and keep the same budget, school leaders have no need to convince families to enroll or stay enrolled in their schools — unlike the city’s private and charter schools, which lose revenue if enro...