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Fiscal Brief
Brief
January 2011
Schools proposed for closing are judged by the Department of Education to be low performing. This
judgment presumes that the education department can accurately measure the effect that a school
has on student performance separate from other factors that also influence student outcomes.
IBO has compared the schools slated for closure with other schools across the city. The comparisons
include factors such as students’ race, poverty level, English language and other special needs status;
outcome measures such as test scores, attendance rates, and for high schools, graduation rates; and
resource measures such as levels of teacher experience and training and school overcrowding. Based
on these comparisons, IBO has found;
• The schools the education department has targeted for closing are all schools with below average
student performance.
• The schools proposed for closing generally have been serving students with greater needs
compared with other schools and the share of their enrollment in some high needs categories,
such as the share of students in special education, has been increasing in recent years.
The report also notes that nearly a third of the schools proposed for closing are schools that had been
opened as new small schools—the replacement model that the education department has favored for
schools that have previously been closed. While the eight new small schools proposed for closing is
just a small share of the number that have been opened, their inclusion on the list is a reminder that
there is no guarantee that a closing school will be replaced by a more successful one.
In addition to the summary statistics provided in this report, our Web site includes tables that present
all the demographic, outcome, and resource measures we have reviewed for each of the schools
on the closing list. The report also summarizes the plans for using the space that comes available if
these schools are closed.
Click here for demographic, performance, and resource data on each school proposed for closing @ www.ibo.nyc.ny.us
IBO
New York City 110 William St., 14th floor Fax (212) 442-0350
Independent Budget Office New York, NY 10038 iboenews@ibo.nyc.ny.us
Ronnie Lowenstein, Director Tel. (212) 442-0632 www.ibo.nyc.ny.us
Introduction About the Schools
The Department of Education (DOE) has released a list of 25 The schools on the closing list are located in every borough
public schools targeted for closing beginning with the 2011- except Staten Island. The map on page 4 shows that the
2012 school year. Final decisions will come after a mandated Bronx has more schools on the list than any other borough.
public hearing and vote of the Panel for Educational Policy. The breakdown of the closing schools by borough is given
The list is longer than in past years because a court decision in the table on this page. A disproportionate share of the
prevented DOE from closing 19 schools last year, and 15 students who would be affected is in the Bronx. Across the
of those schools were carried over to this year’s proposed city, 17,740 students were enrolled in schools last year that
closing list. The complete list of schools on the closure list would be affected by the closings.
(both those held over from last year and those newly added)
and the four schools for which DOE reversed last year’s Three schools on the proposed closing list are on campuses
closure recommendation is on page 3. where a large high school was previously phased out and
closed. The first is the School for Community Research
There are 12 schools on the closing list that serve and Learning, one of seven schools located on the Adlai E.
elementary and middle school grades and 14 that serve Stevenson campus, which began phasing out in the 2005-
high school grades. One school, New Day Academy, 2006 school year. Second is the Urban Assembly Academy for
spans grades 6-12 and since DOE proposes to close History and Citizenship for Young Men, located on the William
both its middle and high school grades, it is included as Howard Taft campus, which was established after Taft began
both a middle school and a high school when we report phasing out in 2002-2003. The third is the Monroe Academy
separately on each type of school. for Business & Law, located on the James Monroe campus;
the original school was phased out in 1994.
The 25 schools that are on this year’s proposed closing
list were identified due to their low performance on key Eight of the 25 schools proposed for closing (about a third)
measures. DOE describes the process for identifying are “new small schools.” Two of these schools opened for
schools for the closure list as follows. First, the the 2002-2003 school year, five opened in 2003-2004,
department generates a list of schools to consider for and one opened in 2005-2006. Five of these “new”
closure based on summary outcomes for the schools. schools now being closed are in the Bronx, where the
The list includes any school receiving a D or F on the program of closing large high schools and opening small
most recent school progress report, a school receiving high schools first began in 2002-2003.
three consecutive C grades and schools rated as “below
proficient” on their most recent Quality Review. This broad How the Study is Organized
list is then winnowed down through three additional
steps. In step one, elementary and middle schools with The policy of school closures is partly premised on the
English language arts (ELA) and math scores above their notion that DOE can accurately measure the impact that a
district average are removed from the list of possible
closures. Similarly, high schools with graduation rates Distribution of Students in Closing Schools in
above the city average are also removed. Also, any 2009-2010
school with a Quality Review score of “well developed” Share of
is removed as is any school that has just received its Students in Share of all
Number of Closing City
first ever Progress Report grade. In the second step,
Students Schools Students
additional data is gathered and including data on
Brooklyn 3,288 19% 30%
demand for the school through the school choice process,
Bronx 6,707 38% 21%
data on the “talent profile” of the school, an assessment
Manhattan 3,461 19% 15%
of potential replacement schools, and an assessment
Queens 4,284 24% 28%
of community needs. In the third step, school and
Staten Island 0 0% 6%
community representatives meet with superintendents,
network leaders, or both. After this process, the final TOTAL 17,740 1,038,741
SOURCES: IBO; Department of Education: 2009-2010
list of schools to be closed is presented to the Panel on Enrollment Capacity Utilization (Blue Book) and J-form citywide
Educational Policy for a vote after public hearings. audited October 31st Register.
school has on the performance of its students, over First, we will consider the student population of the 25
and above the impact of nonschool factors. Because closing schools in terms of key demographics of students’
the closure of a school creates disruptions to both the race; poverty level; and English language, immigrant, and
students and school staff, it is important that the selection special needs status. For high schools on the closure list,
of schools for closure be based on reasonable criteria we will also look at the academic level of the students
applied consistently. In this report, IBO poses a set of prior to their entry to high school, measured by their eighth
questions and provides answers about the schools on grade test scores. These demographic characteristics are
the closure list and how those schools compare to other critical to the question of fairness, because it is widely
schools in the city. This information can help in assessing understood that individual schools serve students who
the choices made by the education department. arrive at school with varying levels of need, and the stated
K-8 School
Middle School
Secondary School
High School
the citywide average for high schools—63 percent percent of students in closing schools were overage,
compared with 52 percent citywide. more than double the citywide average of 4 percent.
• The percentage of students classified as living in • The 2009-2010 test scores of students entering high
temporary housing (including those “doubled-up” with schools on the closure list were lower than the citywide
family members) was 1.5 times the citywide average for average. Ten of the 14 high schools on the closure list
high schools—6 percent compared with 4 percent citywide. had entering classes that scored in the lowest fifth of
• The share of overage students in the entering class of all entering high school classes in the city.
high schools on the closure list— those students who • The stability rate in high schools on the closure list was
may have been “left back” in earlier grades since they lower than the citywide average for high schools—90
are 15 years or older when they enter ninth grade—was percent compared with 95 percent in citywide
significantly higher than the citywide average. Nine elementary and middle schools.
• As discussed above, the four-year graduation rates • Student attendance in elementary and middle
at the 14 high schools on this year’s closing list were schools proposed for closing was 90 percent in 2009-
among the lowest in the city. 2010, below the city average of 93 percent. Nine
• Eight of the 14 high schools on the closing list—more of the closing schools fell in the bottom quarter of
than half—saw four-year graduation rates improve city elementary and middle schools in terms of the
ELA Proficiency Rates for Schools at or Below 60 Percent in 2008-2009: 2009-2010 vs. 2008-2009
2009-2010 ELA Proficiency-Percent