New DOE poll asks parents why they're leaving NYC Public Schools

Host intro: The New York City Public School system is the largest in the country, serving nearly one million students. But that number has declined by about ten percent since the pandemic. As Caroline McCarthy reports, The Department of Education recently polled families to find out why. 

McCarthy: In a first-of-it’s-kind exit survey, parents mentioned many reasons for taking their children out of New York City Schools, including safety, cost of living in the city, inadequate facilities…but nearly half of the those polled said they were seeking more rigorous education someplace else. 

Jennifer has a second grader at PS 24. She’s asked not to use her last name, since her child is still attending the school. She says, starting in the third grade students are required to take standardized state tests. And she’s concerned that the demands of testing will impact work in the classroom.

Jennifer:  There's just so much focus on test preparation. And there's a lot of seat work and computer work to prep them for this state test. I feel that's like an exclusion of learning. And so, that's a big concern for me.

 I feel that they're, they're pushing kids where they shouldn't be. And I think it backfires 'cause kids should be playing in kindergarten. But because again, the demands, the state tests the, they feel like they wanna get kids going sooner, and that isn't necessarily better educationally.

McCarthy: Families are allowed to opt out of taking the standardized tests, but that doesn’t fix the curriculum. David Bloomfield is an Education Leadership professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. He agrees that testing has an impact on curriculum, but he says that tests can also help improve the quality of a school overall. 

David:  The test regime is, is a huge obstacle, I think, to a, a better education. 

 We're in a system of choice. So high test scores is a, is a marketing tool for, uh, higher performing students to choose that school. But the testing regime is there for a supposedly more rigorous curriculum. So it, uh, it's kind of an odd paradox that parents would be critical of teaching to the test while at the same time wanting a more rigorous curriculum.

McCarthy: Bloomfield says that NYC schools have addressed concerns by implementing new Phonics and Math curriculum, but that their impact has been limited in part by the effects of the pandemic.

Bloomfield: It may be that it's less the curriculum and more that post pandemic. I think that teachers have been particularly solicitous of students. I think in some ways that has meant that, students are able to, get away with, , uh, less than full effort in their work because teachers aren't demanding full work.

McCarthy: Jennifer doesn’t blame the teachers, but she does recognize the challenge of properly educating children in large class sizes. 

Jennifer:  

My child's in second grade and there are 32 children in his class, and so, I mean, it is crowded in that room. And even though there's a move to lower class size, New York City public School is huge and it's very slow. And even though, you know, our school got a grant to lower class sizes and hire more teachers physically, there's no space.

There's a million children in this one system, and they're trying to meet the needs of a hugely vast population, um, which is really an impossible task.  

McCarthy: Recently, Jennifer decided to move her child to a private school in Westchester, where the class size will be 17 students with two available teachers.  The family will continue to live in Brooklyn , and that will make transportation a challenge. Still, she feels its worth it for her child to start 3rd grade in the new school. 

And for Bloomfield, he hopes students leaving the school system will prompt change at the administrative and classroom level. 

Bloomfield:  I think it's a wake up call to the school system that they have to do a better job, uh, not only in terms of messaging and, and reputation, but at the classroom level, making sure that there are high expectations, delivering a adequate, uh, if not whatever rigorous curriculum means.

McCarthy: Caroline McCarthy, Columbia Radio News