New York taxpayers spend more per public school student than anyone else in the country. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats have never had trouble finding more money for the system. Making sure children can read has proved much harder.
Preliminary results released by the New York State Education Department show that just 48 percent of students in grades three through eight were proficient in English language arts during the 2025-26 school year. Math proficiency reached 57 percent, while 47 percent of fifth- and eighth-graders met the standard in science. Final results are expected in November after districts review the data.
The elementary grades were worse. Only 43 percent of third-graders, 48 percent of fourth-graders, and 43 percent of fifth-graders scored proficient in English language arts. Third-grade proficiency fell 11 points from the previous school year. Fifth-grade proficiency fell 14 points.
The state cannot blame a new test for the drop. The English language arts assessments have measured the same standards since 2023, and the department says the yearly results can be compared directly.
The department acknowledged the size of the problem in unusually direct terms:
“We will not minimize or attempt to explain away what the data tell us. When scores increase, we report that progress. When they decline, we report that as well. Our responsibility is not to create a narrative around the results, but to understand them, identify where students need additional support, and act accordingly.”
No wonder why there is so many state handouts in New York. If you can’t read a job application, how are you going to fill it out???