Data released today by Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) show that more than 154,000 New York City public school students—nearly one in every seven—experienced homelessness during the 2024–25 school year. This made last year the tenth consecutive year in which more than 100,000 students did not have a permanent place to call home and the first year in which the total number of students in temporary housing exceeded 150,000. If these students comprised their own school district, it would be one of the 20 largest districts in the country.

The new data, which were obtained from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) by AFC, show that of the students who experienced homelessness last year, nearly 65,000 (42%) spent time living in City shelters and more than 82,000 (53%) were “doubled up,” or temporarily sharing the housing of others. The overall rate of student homelessness rose in every borough, relative to the 2023–24 school year, and was once again the highest in Bronx schools, followed by Manhattan. At the community school district level, more than one in five students was identified as homeless at schools in East Harlem (district 4), Highbridge and Grand Concourse (district 9), Brownsville (district 23), and Bushwick (district 32) during the 2024–25 school year.

Students who are homeless, and especially those in shelter, face tremendous obstacles to success in school. In 2023–24, the most recent school year for which بيانات are available:

• More than half of all students in temporary housing and two out of three students in shelter were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least one out of every ten school days.
• Only 22% of students in shelter in grades 3–8 scored proficient on each of the New York State English Language Arts (ELA) and math exams; in both subjects, these proficiency rates were less than half those of permanently housed students.
• One in eight students in shelter dropped out of high school—more than three times the dropout rate of their permanently housed peers—and only 62% graduated in four years.

A recent study from the Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence (CIDI) found that NYC students who resided in shelter during high school and did not graduate in four years were 2.3 times more likely to experience homelessness again as young adults, compared to students who were in shelter and did graduate.

While working to end the crisis of childhood homelessness in New York City, the next Mayor must also focus attention on the education of the more than 150,000 students who are currently homeless, including by launching a bold interagency initiative to tackle the educational barriers facing students in temporary housing. City agencies should work together, for example, to increase shelter placements closer to where children attend school to avoid long commutes and unnecessary school transfers; address persistently high rates of chronic absenteeism; and increase access to early childhood education programs. While the City has taken several positive steps in recent years, such as hiring shelter-based coordinators to focus on education, lasting, citywide change requires high-level leadership and a multi-agency approach. In addition, at a time when the City’s 45-year-old school bus contracts have expired, the City has a key opportunity to overhaul the contracts and address the problems with bus service that too often lead to students in shelter missing school.

“Every year for the past decade, more than 100,000 students in our public schools have been homeless; there are now more students who are homeless in NYC than the entire Dallas public school system,” said Jennifer Pringle, Director of AFC’s Learners in Temporary Housing Project. “This year alone, we’ve worked with families whose children already missed an entire month of school because of the lack of coordination between the shelter and school systems. We look forward to partnering with the next Mayor to advance this critical work.”

The State must also do its part. Despite calls from elected officials, the United Federation of Teachers, parents, and advocates, the State budget passed last spring failed to include an update to the Foundation Aid per-pupil funding formula that would have added funding for each student in temporary housing or foster care, instead continuing a formula that provides no additional funding to help districts meet the needs of these students. We urge the Governor and State Legislature to change the formula in this year’s budget to provide school districts with funding to help address the unique needs of students who are homeless, as proposed in pending legislation (S.8139/A.9048) sponsored by Senator John Liu and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon.