Report: Absenteeism, lagging test scores, school transfers soar for homeless NYC students

Frequent school transfers, high rates of chronic absenteeism, reading and math scores significantly below grade level – these are just some of the disparities that the more than 154,000 New York City public school students who experienced homelessness last school year contended with.

A new report from Advocates for Children of New York found that these children, especially those staying in city shelters, continue to struggle significantly compared to their permanently housed peers. During the 2024-2025 school year, nearly half of students living in temporary housing and 63% living in shelters were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least one out of every ten school days. 

School stability is often a luxury for these children. Facing long commutes and uncertain living conditions, more than 1 in 8 students in temporary housing and 1 in 5 in shelters transferred schools at least once last school year. This was the case for about 1 in 24 of their permanently housed peers. And the disproportionate challenges homeless students face translate directly to test scores. Just 27% of third through eighth graders living in shelters scored proficient on the New York State English Language Arts and math exams in 2025 – a modest bump from the year prior, yet still well below the 60% of their peers.  

It’s hard to picture just how big the student homelessness crisis is. Whether they were staying in city shelters, the streets or “doubled up” in overcrowded apartments with other families, more than 1 in 7 public school students didn’t have a permanent place to live last year – an all-time high. You could add these children together and combine them into a single school district, and it would still be one of the 20 largest in the country – bigger than San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle’s school districts. Fueled by the city’s housing crisis and the surge of migrant families who arrived in the city during the Adams administration, the number of homeless students has only grown in recent years. Now it’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s job to tackle the problem. 

“Making New York City a more affordable place to live is essential, but the tens of thousands of

students who are homeless right now cannot wait for long-term policy changes to take effect,” said Jennifer Pringle, director of Advocates For Children’s Learners in Temporary Housing Project. “Education is the best tool we have to prevent future homelessness, and only bold leadership from City Hall can bring the urgency and coordination needed.” 

Randi Levine, policy director of Advocates for Children, said the group has so far had good conversations with the mayor, schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels and other Department of Education leaders about student homelessness, though they hope the issue will receive greater attention soon. Three months into his tenure, Mamdani himself hasn’t spoken too much about the problem yet – though on the campaign trail he promised to expand a pilot program in the Bronx that connects families in shelters with city employees for regular check-ins. 

Along with asking Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers to increase the money flowing through the Foundation Aid formula to schools serving a high volume of homeless students, the report urges Mamdani to launch an interagency effort to tackle issues like placing children in shelters closer to where they attend school, fixing the longstanding problems that have plagued school bus access and bolstering access to early childhood educational programming. The latter is already a priority for a mayor who has made his push for universal childcare a rallying cry, but advocates say success can only come through careful planning. 

In a statement, Samuels commended Advocates for Children for their report, echoing the group's call for the governor to add an additional weight to the Foundation Aid formula for homeless students.

“Far too often, our students in temporary housing are left behind without the resources and support they need to succeed – under this administration, we will work to tackle those longstanding issues head on,” he said. “Towards that end, New York City public schools are prioritizing trauma-informed, cross-agency, and data-driven strategies to address chronic absenteeism and boost educational outcomes for students in temporary housing.”