Report: 154K NYC public school students were homeless last year

If you took every student in New York City who experienced homelessness at some point last school year and combined them into a single school district, it would still be one of the 20 largest in the entire country. Bigger than school districts in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle and many others.

That’s according to a new report from Advocates for Children of New York published Monday, which found nearly 1 in 7 public school students didn’t have a permanent place to call home during the 2024-2025 academic year. Of the more than 154,000 impacted children, 42% spent time living in city shelters, 53% were “doubled up” or temporarily sharing space with other families, and 5% were unsheltered or living in cars or hotels.

While the latest number is at a staggering all-time high – up about 12,000 from the year prior – homelessness has long been a significant problem in the New York City school system, spurred by the city’s dire housing crisis and the growing cost of living. Last year was the 10th consecutive year in which more than 100,000 public school children were homeless at one point or another, according to Advocates for Children’s annual reports on New York State Education Department records. For whoever wins the upcoming mayoral election, tackling the growing number of homeless students in the nation’s largest school system will be an urgent challenge.

“Education is key to breaking the cycle of homelessness, but our city is currently failing students in shelter,” said Maria Odom, executive director of the nonprofit. “Ensuring students who are homeless receive the support they need to be successful in school must be a top priority for the next mayor, who must lead a citywide, cross-agency effort to break down bureaucratic silos, reverse these alarming trends, and ensure students experiencing homelessness can get to school every day and receive the educational support they need to succeed.”

Children from families without stable housing face steep obstacles to achieving success in school. Even physically getting to school, which in theory could be the greatest source of stability in a child’s life, can be a big challenge for these children every morning. Last school year, more than half of all students living in temporary housing and 2 out of 3 students staying in shelters were chronically absent – meaning they missed at least 1 out of every 10 school days. With few beds available, many families staying in shelters are assigned to facilities far from where their children currently attend school, forcing them to choose between lengthy daily commutes or transferring. About 40% of students in shelters currently attend schools in a different borough.

The repercussions of instability extend to academics as well. A mere 22% of students in shelter between the grades 3-8 scored proficient on state English and math exams last year – less than half of their permanently housed peers. One in eight students staying in shelter dropped out of high school, and only 62% graduated in four years – again a rate that far eclipses their peers in permanent housing. 

Solving such a longstanding, complex problem hasn’t been easy, though some strides have been made in recent years – if not in bringing down the number of impacted students, but building out support for them. The city currently employs over 350 staff specifically dedicated to supporting students and families impacted by homelessness, including 160 shelter-based community coordinators, 1000 social workers and 107 school-based community coordinators who work with students in temporary housing, according to the Department of Education. 

Department of Education spokesperson Chyann Tull said the school system has implemented a bevy of resources to support these students including enrollment assistance, transportation services, immunization assistance, academic support and beyond. The city also updated its school funding formula in 2023 to provide more money to schools serving a high number of students in temporary housing. 

“We share Advocates for Children’s commitment to supporting our students, and will always provide every student – including those in temporary housing – with the resources they need to succeed in school, while working with our partners to remove any barriers to learning,” Tull said in a statement. “Education is key to breaking the cycle of homelessness, and we will continue to strengthen our trauma-informed, cross-agency, and data-driven strategies to help students and families thrive.”

Still, Advocates for Children hopes that the next mayor – along with lawmakers doing their part in Albany – will work to increase shelter placements closer to where children attend school, bolster access to early childhood education programs, and take other steps to improve conditions. 

“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,” said Jennifer Pringle, director of AFC’s Learners in Temporary Housing Project. “We look forward to partnering with the next mayor to advance this critical work.”