Help us investigate: How should NYC cut waste in the $45 billion schools budget?

New York City’s Education Department has a nearly $45 billion budget, the largest of any city agency and about one-third of the entire municipal budget. The budget funds district schools, charter and private school education, and childcare, along with large spending categories such as transportation, food, and maintenance. Critics cite the scale as evidence of inefficiency, including comparisons to business operations. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s cost-cutting efforts focus on delayed implementation of the state class size law, reductions in spending for students with disabilities attending private schools, improved financial controls, and consolidating or eliminating unnecessary contracts. The goal is to identify where inefficiencies are most visible to people working in and attending the system.

"The department's nearly $45 billion budget is the largest of any agency by far, making up roughly a third of the city's entire budget. The city schools budget has even become a national talking point for critics of Mamdani. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently said if he ran his company like New York City ran its schools, it would mean charging customers a $100 fee while taking six weeks to deliver a package."

"So far, Mamdani's biggest cost-cutting plan for the Education Department comes from hundreds of millions in expected savings from delayed implementation of the state's class size law. He's also pledged to trim spending on students with disabilities attending private schools. City officials are counting on $100 million in savings from "improved financial controls" and tens of millions more from consolidating or eliminating unnecessary contracts, according to budget documents."

"The size and complexity of the budget is difficult to comprehend. It covers everything from staff and supplies at roughly 1,600 district schools as well as the educations of hundreds of thousands of students in charter and private schools and childcare centers. It spends billions on transportation, food, and maintenance."

"Chalkbeat wants to better understand what the Education Department's massive budget looks like to the people working in and attending the system every day, and where you see the biggest potential savings. Chalkbeat wants to hear from you, since where you see the biggest spending inefficiencies could look very different depending on your role in the system."

Read at Chalkbeat