Eric Adams: New York City Public Schools Sees ‘Massive Hemorrhaging’ of Thousands of Students

New York City Public Schools is set to lose nearly 30,000 students by the fall, continuing a country-wide trend of public school enrollment dropping precipitously.

“We have a massive hemorrhaging of students — massive hemorrhaging. We’re in a very dangerous place in the number of students that we are dropping,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said last week.

According to projections from the school district’s Office of Student Enrollment, public schools will see 28,100 fewer students in the fall, followed by another 2,300 by the end of the school year. The data do not include students enrolled in charter schools or other non-traditional schooling options but do reflect all geographic areas of the city’s school district.

The city’s charter schools have seen rapid growth over the past six years, including by nine percent since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The recent decline in enrollment for traditional public schools comes as the school district has lost 120,000 students over the past five years, and enrollment affects school funding.

Of the 656 schools that submitted feedback on the enrollment projections, over one-third of them reported an expectation of fewer students than even the projections showed. Despite that, 426 of the schools reported expecting more students than projected.

The city’s School Chancellor David Banks has instituted a new funding formula seen by some as controversial, and per-pupil funding has already been cut for the city. Some of that has to do with teachers retiring or resigning, but Adams maintains the primary issue is the drop in student enrollment.

The budget cuts were originally set for about $215 million, but the New York Post reports they “now appear to be deeper as the city anticipates further enrollment drops.”

Budget cuts have stirred up protest in the city, with Adams being confronted recently at the Police Athletic League where he referred to a protester as a “clown” — something he doubled down on later.

“When you stand up and yell while your neighbors are talking and attempting to solve a problem, then you turn the place into a circus — and one of the people in the circus is a clown,” Adams said at a Manhattan press conference. “So when you do things that’s clown-like, then you should be probably defined as what you are.”

Four parents have filed a lawsuit challenging the budget cuts. The filing appears to be on procedural grounds surrounding the manner for which the cuts were voted — the city council must vote after the board of education votes. Parents are hoping for a revote after testimony from parents and educators.

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.