NEW NYC CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICANT NUMBERS HIT ANOTHER ALL-TIME HIGH

Nearly 80,000 Students Applied to a NYC Charter School for 2018-2019 School-Year

For the First Time in Five Years, The Number of Applicants Exceeding Available Seats Has Surpassed 50,000 NYC Students

(NEW YORK) – A new annual report released today by the New York City Charter School Center shows that the number of applicants to charter schools have hit a new all-time high. The Center’s “NYC Charter Schools: 2018-2019 Enrollment Lottery Estimates Report” shows that 79,600 unique students applied to one of the anticipated 238 NYC public charter schools for the 2018-19 school-year – a 9 percent increase in demand over the 2017-2018 applicant pool. Further, the overwhelming demand means that the number of students without access to a seat, at the time each charter school runs its lottery, has exceeded 52,700 different children, rising above the 50,000 marker for just the second time ever and for the first time since 2013-2014. The data demonstrates the fundamental need to make more public charter seats and schools available to everyday families.

“With the number of applicants hitting another record high, there is no doubt that demand for public charter schools is growing. These numbers should send a clear signal to every policy maker in the state that parents want great public school options. We must eliminate the cap on charter schools now,” said James Merriman, CEO of the Charter Center.

Since 2010, the New York City Charter School Center has produced estimates of the number of applicants entering a lottery for all NYC charter schools using a combination of survey data and numbers from the Charter Center’s Common Online Charter School Application. This year’s data shows that the number of applicants continues to rise.

This year’s report shows that the number of students without immediate access to a charter seat rose by nearly 5,000 students over the last year after a spike in the overall number of applicants:

Further, the data demonstrates that:

The number of charter applicants has reached an all-time high, with 79,600 unique applicants across the five boroughs for just 26,900 seats, up from 73,000 last year – a 9 percent increase – and up from 54,000 applicants for the 2010-2011 school-year.
97 percent of charter schools do not have enough seats to accommodate demand. About 9 out of 10 charter schools reported having waitlists that are at least twice the number of available seats.
There are approximately four applicants for each charter school seat in Harlem and the South Bronx, with approximately 30,418 applicants for just 7,819 seats in both of those neighborhoods.
When demand and availability is cut by borough, the data demonstrates that parents are clamoring for charters in the Bronx (27,020 applicants), Brooklyn (22,497 applicants), and Manhattan (21,280 applicants):

To view the full NYC Charter Schools: 2018-2019 Enrollment Lottery Estimates report, please click here.