NYC students facing foreclosure increases

The number of public school students living in homes that received a foreclosure notice during the 2006-2007 school year totaled 18,525, a 59 percent increase from the 2003-2004 academic year, according to report released today by NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. The report, entitled “Kids and Foreclosures: New York City,” also found that 57 percent of students facing foreclosure are black, compared to just 33 percent of public school students in New York City as a whole. Half of students living in properties entering foreclosure in 2006-2007 attend just 17 percent of all city schools. On average, the schools with larger numbers of students facing foreclosures also have higher shares of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and lower shares of students scoring proficient on standardized math and reading tests. The report also says that the largest number of foreclosures were concentrated in areas of Northern Brooklyn and Southeastern Queens. TRD