2026 NYC family survey: participation and school experience

Trust is near the ceiling; the experience is not one-dimensional

Parent-teacher trust and inclusive leadership each have a median published score of 97. Satisfaction with education is 94, parent involvement is 92 and facilities and services is 91. These are different topics rather than interchangeable tests of quality. The pattern suggests that a broad positive impression can coexist with more specific questions about participation or practical services. Each median gives equal weight to a reporting record; it is not a citywide respondent percentage.

*25th–75th percentiles of published record scores; this is spread, not a confidence interval. Missing values are excluded separately for each topic. Source: official K–12 families summary sheet ↗. Equal weight per source record, including unmatched records.

Why a score of 94 does not separate a school from the pack

Of the 1,792 records reporting satisfaction with education, 1,622 score at least 90. That concentration makes it hard to distinguish schools using this number alone. A school’s 96 should not automatically beat another school’s 94 in your decision. The public summary does not supply the uncertainty needed to call that difference statistically meaningful. Program fit, a visit and the participation context can be more useful than the last digit.

More families responded in four boroughs

The official citywide report provides a separate participation comparison: Queens rose from 48% in 2025 to 52% in 2026, the largest gain among the five boroughs. Manhattan rose three percentage points, Brooklyn two and the Bronx one. Staten Island fell two. These figures cover geographic districts and exclude District 75 and charters. They measure response rates, not rising satisfaction; more responses do not necessarily mean happier families.

Do not let a broad topic hide a specific need

IEP service satisfaction appears in fewer records than the broad family topics. Advocacy and other age-specific measures have still narrower coverage. An absent result may reflect the population or reporting rules, not a failure of the school. If your child needs a particular service, ask about that service directly. A high overall impression from other families is not evidence that every child’s support needs are met.

A practical school-visit checklist

Ask how teachers communicate progress between report cards, what happens when a parent raises a concern, and how the school makes involvement possible for working families. For a lower facilities score, ask what respondents were referring to instead of guessing from the label. Bring the reporting year and topic with you. The goal is to turn feedback into a specific, answerable question rather than an accusation.