The NYC Department of Education has a budget of $38.1B, making it the largest agency in city government by far. NYC spends approximately $35,200 per student — among the highest in the nation. Yet the citywide graduation rate is 83.4% and math proficiency (Level 3+) has still not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
NYC spends more per pupil than virtually any major city in the United States, yet math proficiency rates — particularly in middle school — remain below 35%. The pandemic caused a significant drop in test scores across all grades, and while recovery is underway, Grade 8 math proficiency (30.8% in 2024) has still not returned to the pre-pandemic 2019 level of 32.1%. Meanwhile, the DOE budget has grown from $26B in FY2015 to over $38B today.
Explore DOE's full budget, payroll, and performance data.