New York public schools top the nation’s class for costly failure

Gov. Hochul proposes to increase public-school funding by $825 million next year.

But school districts and the teachers union are angry because her budget would stop guaranteeing districts won’t get less funding than they did the year before — even if they are serving fewer students. 

“Why are we funding a program for kids who aren’t there?” Hochul rightly asked. 

New York’s public-school enrollment dropped by 180,000 from 2002 to 2020.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public schools lost another 160,000 students.

It makes sense to stop giving schools money for these students.