Special Excerpt From:

Ignition Failure
Broken Schools Threaten
New York States Revival

Ignition Failure: Broken Schools Threaten

New York States Revival
New jobs and new industries are emerging throughout New York State. But
the widespread failure of public schools jeopardizes this growthespecially
in urban areas outside New York City, where 6 out of 10 public schools fail
90% of kids. A critical engine of opportunity is broken.
Schools can be sparkplugs, but most are misfiring
Cities across the state have faced unprecedented economic challenges in recent years, leaving bleak
prospects for new jobs. But there are pockets of hope: The deep pessimism of the Great Recession has
given way to bursts of job growth and plans for big investments, with colleges and universities at the
center of the renaissance.
Tens of thousands of childrenfrom Buffalo to Yonkerscan now imagine a road that winds through
one of those colleges and reaches a skilled job in a cutting-edge field.
If their public schools can shift out of reverse, that is.
Across Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, 6 out of 10 schools are failing 90% of their kids. In
short, these school systems are failing monumentallya level of dysfunction that leaves children with
almost no hope of reaching college and excelling professionally. Many of these schools have been failing
for decades. So far, there has been little to no public outcry.
This is not just an inner-city problem. Beyond those Big Four districts and New York City, there are 75
other public schools where at least 90% of kids are being failed. More than 400 school districts in New
York State lack even one school where a majority of children meet academic standards.
Public schools have enormous potential to be sparkplugs for the states resurgence. They are the training
ground for the next generation of computer scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs needed to power
entire communities. But right now, a significant number of the states schools are a disaster.
Consider some key findings from this study of public schools across the state:

In the Big Four cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, 61% of schools fail 9 out
of 10 kids.

Those four cities contain just four schools where a majority of kids are on grade level or graduate
ready for college. Severely failing schools outnumber these schools 34 to 1.

 There are 203 severely failing schools outside New York City. More than 100,000 children are
trapped in these schools.

Children of color pay the highest price for the states education crisis. One out of every five

African-American and Hispanic children outside New York City attends a severely failing school
compared with 1 out of every 50 white and Asian children.

The scope of educational failure is breathtaking

Families for Excellent Schools reviewed results from the 2014 New York State examinations in math and
English Language Arts for every public elementary and middle school in the state,i as well as college
readiness rates for every high school in the state.ii
Sheet 1

The map below represents every public school outside New York City, using either average proficiency
Average ELA/Math
across math and ELA (for schools with grades 3-8) or college readiness (for schools with grades 9-12).iii
0.0077

Buffalo

1.0000

Empire State Crisis:

More Than 100,000
Kids Are Trapped in
Failing Schools
Outside NYC

Rochester

Syracuse
Yonkers

College Readiness
Math/ELA Proficiency
0.0077

1.0000

In the Big Four school districts, there are 130 severely failing schoolsa staggering 61% of all schools.
While these cities account for 8% of all schools outside the five boroughs of New York City, they
account for 65% of the severely failing schools.
In addition, there are 75 severely failing schools in other parts of the state, where nearly 32,000 children
are trapped.

District

Severely Failing Schools

Percent of All Schools

Students Enrolled

Buffalo

42

61%

21,154

Rochester

54

79%

24,344

Syracuse

23

72%

15,092

Yonkers

11

28%

8,486

All other districts

73

3%

31,021

203

7%

100,097

Total outside of New York City

Using the same criteria, there are also about 148,000 students attending 385 severely failing public
schools in New York City.iv That brings the statewide total of children stuck in these extremely lowperforming schools to approximately 249,000.
More students are trapped in New Yorks severely failing schools than the total enrollment of all schools
in the cities of Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Seattle combined.v

In the Big Four districts, nothing has changed

The sweeping educational failure in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers has existed for years.
Despite the massive scale of the problem, the performance of schools remains largely unchanged.
For example, in 2006, elementary and middle schools in those cities were outperformed by comparable
schools in almost every other district in the state. On average, they ranked 693rd out of 723 districts
(ranging from Yonkers at 649th to Buffalo at 709th)placing them in the bottom 4% of all districts.vi
Eight years later, in 2014, the schools in these districts posted an average rank of 679th out of 715,
placing them in the bottom 5% of all districtseffectively the same result.
This failure to make meaningful improvement cannot be attributed to scarce resources. Per-pupil
spending across those four districts has actually increased, from $18,046 in 2006 to $18,730 in 2012
(the most recent year available).vii
Nor can it be blamed on seismic demographic shifts. The average poverty rate among students in the
four cities rose by four percentage points, from 76% to 80%. This slightly exceeded the state overall,
where the poverty rate rose 3 percentage points (from 45% to 48%). And the percentage of children of
color in the Big Four districts actually declined, from 75% to 73%.viii
In 31 U.S. states, including New York, deep and persistent failure allows state agencies to take over
schools or districts.ix In June, for example, the State of Missouri exercised this right and began running
Normandy School District in St. Louis County, leading to substantial leadership changes and a new
emphasis on accountability.x After decades of struggle, New Orleans public schools were turned over
to the Recovery School District in 2003. Today, students in this district dramatically outperform their
peers in district-run schools.xi

Syracuse
Sheet 1

Syracuse Schools

Average ELA/Math
0.0077

1.0000

23 severely failing schools

72% of schools
15,092 children

College Readiness
Math/ELA Proficiency

0.0077

Demographics
Severely Failing
(<10% passing)

Children
of Color

30%

70%

Moderately Failing
(1150% passing)

45%

Good Schools
(>50% passing)

55%

No schools
above 50%
passing

69%

No schools
above 50%
passing

African-American / Hispanic
White / Asian

Poverty
Students receiving free
or reduced-price lunch

18%
82%

31%

Above poverty level

12

1.0000

Syracuse continues to make economic strides. Forbes described the city as one
of Americas best places for business in 2006,xx while Business Facilities in
2008 called it one of the seven top cities in the nation for a company to move or
expand.xxi Examples of notable development include Agrana Fruits $50 million
factory in nearby Lysander and a $220 million facilities project at St. Josephs
Hospital Health Center.xxii
But the home of Syracuse University, one of the states top institutions of higher education, continues to
confront sweeping failure in its public schools. Syracuse ranks 704th out of 715 New York State school
districts for elementary and middle school performance, despite spending $18,387 per student.
At 23 city schools (72% of the public school system), no more than 1 in 10 students is academically proficient or college ready. These schools enroll approximately 15,100 students, who are disproportionately
among the most vulnerable in the city: 70% of them are children of color, compared with 55% at all other
schools in the city, and 82% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, compared with 69% across
the rest of Syracuse.
Not a single public school in the city has a majority of students on track for success.
Five of the six high schools in the city have a college readiness rate of less than 10%. Based on their current
rates, these schools will produce a combined total of 382 college-ready graduates out of nearly 5,800
enrolled students. Marcellus High School, located about 20 minutes from Syracuse by car, is on track to
produce 383 college-ready students out of 626 enrolled.
At 13 of Syracuses elementary and middle schools, the crisis is even worse: No more than 1 in 20
students is proficient in math and English. These include:

Westside Academy at Blodgett (1% proficient)

Danforth Middle School (2% proficient)
Delaware Academy (3% proficient)
Van Duyn Elementary School (4% proficient)
Lincoln Middle School (4% proficient)
In fact, at the top elementary school in the city, Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School, just a third
of children meet state academic standards. The next-highest proficiency rate, at Salem Hyde Elementary
School, is 21%.

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Failing Schools in Syracuse

School

District Name

Proficient /
College Ready

Children of Color

Poverty

Westside Academy at Blodgett

Syracuse City

1%

83%

94%

Danforth Middle School

Syracuse City

2%

91%

93%

Delaware Academy

Syracuse City

3%

78%

84%

Fowler High School

Syracuse City

4%

60%

82%

Van Duyn Elementary School

Syracuse City

4%

81%

82%

Lincoln Middle School

Syracuse City

4%

65%

86%

Seymour Dual Language Academy

Syracuse City

4%

82%

93%

Hughes Elementary School

Syracuse City

5%

84%

83%

Meachem Elementary School

Syracuse City

5%

65%

69%

Dr. King Elementary School

Syracuse City

5%

89%

89%

Dr. Weeks Elementary School

Syracuse City

5%

66%

84%

McKinley-Brighton Elementary School

Syracuse City

5%

91%

85%

Grant Middle School

Syracuse City

5%

49%

85%

Porter Elementary School

Syracuse City

5%

43%

76%

Corcoran High School

Syracuse City

6%

78%

72%

Clary Middle School

Syracuse City

6%

79%

84%

Frazer K-8 School

Syracuse City

6%

49%

85%

Henninger High School

Syracuse City

7%

51%

71%

Bellevue Elementary School

Syracuse City

7%

77%

83%

Institute of Tech at Syracuse Central

Syracuse City

8%

73%

76%

Franklin Elementary School

Syracuse City

9%

43%

84%

Expeditionary Learning Middle School

Syracuse City

9%

58%

77%

Nottingham High School

Syracuse City

10%

65%

74%

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Conclusion
New industries and new jobs continue to recharge New York States urban centers outside the five
boroughs. In 2013, the metropolitan areas of Buffalo and Rochester each surpassed $50 billion of
economic output for the first time.xxvi As the region ramps up its participation in the technology-centric
new economy, citizens stand to benefit in both the short run (higher wages, lower unemployment)
and the long run (happier, more stable communities).
However, the miserable condition of local public school systems jeopardizes all these gains. Across
New York State, in small towns and big cities, the more than 200 schools that fail to educate their students
are destined to put a drag on this new economy. In Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, 6 out of 10
schools are failing 90% of students. That statistic should be serious cause for concern among employers
and state leaders, as well as a source of despair for parents. The 100,000 students trapped in these schools,
most of them children of color, are being stripped of opportunity for the future. Without the requisite skills,
they wont be able to graduate college and secure a highly skilled job.
Too many New York State public schools, as they currently operate, represent a human capital engine
that just wont start.
The cost of such dismal results is real and growing. Stanford University researcher Eric Hanushek, who
has studied the relationship between public school performance and economic well-being, concludes:
Higher achievement is associated both with greater individual productivity and earnings and with faster
growth of the nations economy.xxvii
Hanushek estimates that for every increase of one standard deviation to test scores in math, the growth
rate of economic output increases by one percentage point.xxviii As one example of what this means,
consider the Buffalo metropolitan area.xxix If Buffalo public schools were to improve their average math
proficiency rate from 15% to 50%, the average annual economic growth rate for the metro area would
increase from 2.7% to 5.3%.xxx
Between 2010 and 2013, that would have translated to an increase of more than $4 billion of economic
activity and all its attendant jobs, increased wages and overall prosperity.
Tens of thousands of children are paying a steep and ever-rising price for the education crisis that is
crippling too many of New York States school systems. These children deserve better: schools with
academic rigor, highly engaging teachers, excellent professional development and carefully tracked
progress.
Most of all, they deserve action bold and immediate steps that will prevent students from languishing in
broken schools any longer.

18

Results from the 2014 New York State Exams in math and English Language Arts are available at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/
irs/pressRelease/20140814/home.html

ii

In this study, college readiness rate is used synonymously with the rate of students meeting New York States Aspirational
Performance Measure (APM). The APM, calculated using Regents exam scores, reflects how many students are on track to
begin college without needing remedial coursework in math or English. More information and the data is available at:
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20140623/home.html

iii

New elementary schools that have not phased in testing grades, as well as high schools without college readiness data, are
excluded from this study. Schools with both ELA/math data and college readiness data are considered failing if either rate is
10% or lower.

iv

The New York City Department of Education uses a slightly different formula when reporting college readiness rates for its
schools. For the sake of consistency, this study universally applies the APM as calculated by New York State.

This calculation is based on the enrollment totals published here:

Boston: http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/domain/238

San Francisco: http://www.sfusd.edu/en/about-sfusd/overview.html
Seattle: http://www.seattleschools.org
Atlanta: http://www.school-stats.com/GA/FULTON/ATLANTA_CITY.html

vi

All district-level rankings in this study are calculated using the weighted average of proficiency rates on math and ELA exams
in 2006 and 2014. All data available at: http://data.nysed.gov/

vii

Per-pupil spending data accessed from U.S. Census reports published at: http://www.census.gov/govs/school/

viii

All demographic and enrollment data used in this study comes from Report Cards published by the New York State Department of Education, available here: http://data.nysed.gov/

ix

See: http://ielp.rutgers.edu/docs/developing_plan_app_b.pdf

See: http://dese.mo.gov/communications/news-releases/normandy-schools-will-continue-operate-new-board

xi

See: http://credo.stanford.edu/documents/la_report_2013_7_26_2013_final.pdf

xii

Unemployment rates for New York State are available at: http://labor.ny.gov/stats/laus.asp

xiii

See: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/09/02/an-urban-revival-in-the-rust-belt

xiv

See: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/buffalo/high-tech-hub-for-buffalo-includes-state-funding-15-billion-from-2firms-20131121

xv

See: http://www.larkinsquare.com/

xvi

One school in Buffalo, Frederick Olmsted #156, had a 57% college readiness rate, but a 37% average proficiency rate.

xvii

See: http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2014/09/16/buffalo-and-rochester-rank-among-56-metros-with.html?appSession=672144690356364

xviii

See: http://www.thesibleybuilding.com

xix

See: http://www.thetoweratmidtown.com

xx

See: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/1/2916.html

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xxi

See: http://businessfacilities.com/editors-location-picks-2008/

xxii

See: http://www.syracusecentral.com

xxiii

See: http://www.cityofyonkers.com/work/department-of-planning-development/projects/contrafect-corporation

xxiv

See: http://www.cityofyonkers.com/work/department-of-planning-development/projects/cross-county-shopping-center

xxv

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/business/converting-a-run-down-yonkers-power-plant-into-an-arts-complex.html

xxvi

See: http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2014/09/16/buffalo-and-rochester-rank-among-56-metros-with.html?appSession=681446931801075

xxvii

See: http://hanushek.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Hanushek%202002%20OurSchOurFuture.pdf

xxviii

Ibid

xxxix

For the purposes of this example, the Buffalo metro area is approximated as the municipalities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls,
Lackawanna, Lockport, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda and Olean

xxx

For the purposes of this calculation, we assume the performance of schools in Niagara Falls, Lackawanna, Lockport,
Tonawanda, North Tonawanda and Olean remains constant. Note also that we are using results from the New York State
Exam in math, whereas Hanushek uses both math and science results from other instruments to come up with his estimates.
This is meant as a back-of-the-envelope calculation.

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