I doubt that there are any public schools in the country more completely under the thumb of the teachers unions and the radical Left than the New York City public schools.
With relentless advocacy for more funding and smaller class sizes, the unions and their allies have achieved what may seem like public school utopia: $37.5 billion of funding for 937,000 students in the current school year, which comes to just over $40,000 per student. (By contrast, according to educationdata.org, the average per pupil spending in the U.S. for the 2023-24 year is $13,701, while the state most comparable to New York, Florida, spends just $11,800.).
Yet, for all the spending, our schools somehow achieve sub-par results for the students, and on top of that are consumed with all the standard leftist obsessions, from socialism to “anti-racism” (aka racism) to LGBT and trans rights. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the districts have started to get some push back from parents on at least some of these issues. To me, the push back seems to be remarkably low key.
Today’s New York Times has an entertaining front-page article on this subject.