NYC charter schools are outpacing public schools at significant rates, according to state and city education data.
More than 67% of charter school students did well on the NYS English Language Arts (ELA) exam last spring, marking a dramatic increase over 56% of students who scored high in district schools, including public schools.
Similar results sprang from the state math exam. More than 68% of charter school students scored proficient on the standardized test, compared to nearly 57% of district school students.
On the ELA exam, over 70% of charter schools (167) had higher percentages of students scoring proficient than the overall average NYC Public Schools. On the math exam, over 64% of charter schools (152) had higher percentages of students scoring proficient than the overall average NYC public schools.
James Merriman, CEO of the NYC Charters School Center, said the statistics put to rest years of rumors regarding the longterm success of charter schools.
“When the charter movement began decades ago, many believed that the gaps in achievement we were seeing would narrow as the sector grew, but the latest data proves that this is far from true, and charter students continue to excel,” Merriman said.
He also described charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently operated institutions, as one of the “single greatest interventions” in early childhood and secondary education.
“Families are seeing these results and shifting the dynamics of public education in our city, with more than 15% of NYC’s public school students now attending a charter school,” Merriman said.
NYC public schools experience improved test scores
But data on NYC public school test results from last year were not too shabby, either. Since 2023, public school math scores have only improved in grades 3 to 8, increasing from 49.9% to nearly 57% proficiency.
ELA scores for this group showed some fluctuation, starting at 51.7% in 2023, dipping to 49.1% in 2024, and ultimately increasing to 56.3% in 2025.
“We proudly educate nearly one million students with diverse needs, and our latest state data shows meaningful, systemwide gains in both reading and math, outpacing statewide performance, and marking the strongest results in more than a decade,” a spokesperson for NYC Public Schools said. “These improvements reflect sustained investments in high-quality instruction, NYC Reads, and student supports, and we remain focused on continuing that momentum for every child, in every classroom.”
The analysis of test scores follows multiple reports of NYC public schools experiencing a significant decline in student enrollment. An article in Chalkbeat, an education news outlet, reported that enrollment in the city’s kindergarten through 12th grade programs fell by about 22,000 in 2025, compared to the previous year.
It is unclear why there are fewer students enrolled in public schools, but speculation has emerged that safety, access to school sports and other programs, and migration from NYC are among the factors.
