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Impact of Immigration on New York Schools

Between 1990 and 2000, New York’s public school enrollment increased 14 percent.

31 percent of school-aged children in New York have immigrant parents.20 Seven percent of New York City students immigrated to the U.S. in the past three years. In Queens, schools are scrambling for space for 30,000 additional students. “That’s almost exclusively driven by immigration,” according to Harold Levy, New York City’s school chancellor.21

As fast as new schools are built, enrollment increases fill them up. New York City estimated it would be 22,000 students over capacity during the 2002 school year.22 Over 1,600 classes in 400 public schools there violate city guidelines for overcrowding.23 Many of the areas most affected by overcrowding are those that have experienced a large influx of immigrants in recent years.24

“With too many students and too few classrooms, the principal and teachers at PS 112 in Long Island City make do,” reports Newsday .“The gym teacher shares his gymnasium with therapists for special-education students, so there isn’t enough space for basketball games. Upstairs, fifth-graders use a former boys’ shower as a storage room and hang their coats on the shower knobs. It would be shocking, if only it weren’t so commonplace in Queens, which has the most crowded schools in New York City, if not the nation. Queens needs another 30,000 new seats just to handle current students —before expected hikes in enrollment

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