A Think Twice Review of:

Review of The Economic Benefits of New York City’s Public School Reforms, 2002-2013

Think Twice - Mar 31, 2014

Publisher/Think Tank - Sonecon, Inc.

Author(s) - Robert J. Shapiro, Sonecon, Inc. & Kevin A. Hassett, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

An estimated $74 billion impact was attributed to the reforms (based on earnings of students who graduated under the reforms – who might not have otherwise – and on property values). The report assumes that higher graduation rates and charter school availability increased residential property values in the city.

Reviewer(s) - Sean P. Corcoran, New York University

Professor Sean Corcoran writes, "While such estimates are always an exercise in some level of speculation, this report relies on highly inappropriate assumptions to reach its conclusions." Breaking down the math of the authors, Corcoran calculates that the impact on property values attributed to the Bloomberg-era educational reforms is comparable to "two-thirds of the entire increase in residential property values between 2007 and 2013." Corcoran found that many NYC public school students did experience " real educational and economic gains" during Bloomberg's time in office, but the estimates that the Sonecon report makes, he concludes, "are pure fantasy."