NYC’s ill-conceived, taxpayer-funded Summer Rising program flounders as fraction of 110K students show up

Summer Rising is falling — with attendance for the K-8 summer program nosediving, and taxpayers wondering where the $350 million spent for the ill-conceived Covid-era classes and camps has gone.

Teachers and administrators say only a fraction of the 110,000 registered students show up each day, even as tens of thousands of other kids linger on the waitlist.

The free citywide program hired many more teachers than were needed for the no-show students, according to a July 18 email shared by Educators of NYC .

“I am forced to consolidate all classes into one [in] each grade from K-6 beginning on Tuesday,” read the email, which had the sender blurred out in a screenshot, but sources say was written by an administrator. “As a result, some teachers will have to be released.”

Remaining teachers would have to handle more than one subject or grade, continued the email, which was shared in an educators group.

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“The summer attendance has been poor across the city, and our efforts to call families has not given us the boost that we need to maintain the organization of the program that was put into place based on enrollment numbers from MySchools,” the message added, referring to the city’s online enrollment portal.

One Queens middle school teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he gets, at most, four students out of a roster of 16 in his Summer Rising course each day.

He said boring, hours-long exams are likely to blame for students not returning, and that many schools aren’t taking as many field trips as originally promised.

“You don’t see a willingness to spend the money [Summer Rising receives] and then, when you look at how some of these programs are being run, I can see why some of them say, ‘You know what, I’m not coming back,'” the teacher added.

Different community-based organizations run the recreational activities at each program, but he said it doesn’t seem each CBO is “up to par,” and there is little consistency between each program.

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Attendance is typically good among younger kids but less so for older ones, some of whom need to make up for failed classes, said one former Summer Rising teacher. Classes for students mandated to Summer Rising because they are behind academically have had to be combined with kids who don’t need the extra help, according to educators.

The city Department of Education insisted this summer’s attendance is “on par” with last year, but did not provide specific numbers, and said that teachers will not be let go.

“Summer Rising is one of our most popular programs, providing rigorous academics, engaging enrichment, daily meals, social-emotional support and other resources to our families,” DOE spokeswoman Jenna Lyle said.

“As usual, we are continuing to provide support to our Summer Rising teams and school leaders as needed.”

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Schools can enroll kids off the waitlist if spots open up, but many parents said they haven’t heard of any new spots being offered.

Summer Rising was started in 2021 under former Mayor de Blasio with COVID-19 stimulus money. It faced steep budget cuts when the federal funds ran out but the city announced in January, following widespread outrage, that taxpayer dollars would keep it afloat.

Experts saw the red flags before the city was forced to fund the program on its own.

“Our point back in 2021 was, ‘Please don’t use non-recurring funding to establish programs that no one’s going to want to end, because you aren’t going to have a way to fund them down the line,” said Ana Champeny, vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission.

Summer Rising aimed to address learning loss during the pandemic.

“I don’t know that it did that effectively, at all, but what it did do is drive up our baseline spending,” Champeny added.

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