LOHUD---DOWNSTATE COUNTIES HAVE HIGHEST RATES OF STUDENTS IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS---CHECK YOUR DISTRICT

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Fascinating article on so many levels.....

Excerpted---read it all at the link below

Downstate counties have highest rates of students in private schools. Check your district--Diana Dombrowski
Rockland/Westchester Journal News

The debate over school choice — public funds following students to private schools — is alive and well nationally, but in New York plenty of families fork over their own money for private school tuition without public dollars offsetting the cost.

Counties with the highest percentages of students attending private schools are mostly concentrated downstate, where many families pay high property tax bills along with private school tuition: Rockland with 46%; Orange, 24%; New York (Manhattan), 18%; Sullivan, 11%; Nassau, 11% and Westchester, 10%.

In Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, as of 2021-22, 16 of 54 districts had private school attendance rates greater than 10%. Twenty-two districts had rates less than 5%, (excluding six "special act" districts that don't have any students go to private schools because they were created by the state to serve students with special needs).Many factors contribute to rates of private school attendance: the proximity and accessibility of private schools; religious traditions or traditions of subsequent generations in a family attending the same school; dissatisfaction with public schools or concerns, however valid, over a public school's image.

Whatever the reason, educators understand it's a personal choice for families.

EXCERPTED
The Kyras Joel district in Orange County had the highest percentage of students who attend private schools in the state — just under 98%, according to the data, reported to the state along with other enrollment data the first Wednesday in each October. The district, which has one public school, was created to serve students with disabilities, while other students in the district attend private yeshivas.Then there's East Ramapo, which had the second highest percentage: 76%. Over 30,400 of its almost 40,000 students attended private schools, mainly Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish yeshivas. Most of its over 9,400 public school students are children of color and considered economically disadvantaged. Many are English Language Learners.

Suffern ranks second in the Lower Hudson Valley — and 10th in the state — with over 28% of its students attending private schools in 21-22. While the district's overall population has grown, its public school enrollment has dropped while more students attend Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish yeshivas.

Greenburgh had the third highest percentage of students attending private schools in the region, over 22%, which represented the highest percentage not related to a growing Orthodox population. 

MORE AT NY private school attendance enrollment rate statistics 2021-22 (lohud.com)