New data released by the New York State Department of Education shows that the number of students attending Kindergarten to 12th grade Jewish day schools and yeshivas in New York City now exceeds 110,000 students, according to a press release sent out by Teach NYS, a division of the Orthodox Union’s Teach Advocacy Network.
This marks an increase of more than 10,000 students in less than two years, as Jewish day school and Yeshiva enrollment in New York City has become almost as large as the entire New York City based charter school population, with its 114,000 students.
The total number of K to 12 students enrolled in Jewish day schools and yeshivas is 110,485. Jewish day school and yeshiva students now account for 42% of the total nonpublic school population in New York City. A total of 148,345 students are enrolled in all the other parochial and independent schools combined.
The overall number of non-public school students has reached 18% of New York City’s school enrollment.
Neil Cohen, Chairman of Teach NYS, said the new data shows the importance of continuing to push for a more equitable distribution of local and state funds for non-public schools.
“This demonstrates our community’s need to stay focused on one of the top priorities for our families – making non-public school education more affordable,” Cohen said, adding, “We will continue to work with our partners in New York City and Albany to ensure that the city and state invest in our children in a fair and meaningful manner. We will also continue to work within our community to increase voter participation and civic engagement.”
Teach NYS was founded in 2013 to advocate for equitable government funding for New York’s nonpublic schools. It has secured an additional $450 million in funding for day schools to increase security, enhance education and defray higher tuition costs. In 2018, Teach NYS championed a pilot program to provide Kosher and Halal meals to students enrolled in both public and nonpublic schools in New York City.
To date, more than 40 day schools and yeshivas receive government funding through Teach NYS.