Why are Mayor Bill de Blasio and School Chancellor Carmen Fariña determined to diminish the educational standards of the public school system of New York City?
What possible reason could there be to punish excellence just because not everyone is smart enough to pass an entrance test for one of New York City’s nine specialized public high schools?
According to state law, the only method that these schools may use to determine admission is the Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT). Exceptions are made to high schools focused on arts and music, which are allowed to hold auditions for admission.
Local politicians and activists dissatisfied with the racial and ethnic proportions at special public high schools now want to tinker with the entrance exams for the sake of parity.
Asian students comprise a little more than half the admitted students, although they only make up 15 percent of all city public school children. Reports show that Hispanics account for 40 percent of students and blacks account for 28 percent of the total public high school kids.
However, only 7 percent of Hispanic students and 5 percent of black studentss pass the SHSAT tests for admission. Whites represent 14 percent of all kids in public school and have a 28 percent acceptance rate in the speciliazed schools.
United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew is in favor of changing the entrance exams and unveiled a plan enabling the city to also consider grade point average and other factors for admission.
Maybe Mulgrew should instead consider advocating for higher-quality teachers and enhance curricula rather than lower admission standards.
There are many successful black and Hispanic people who attended schools in New York City and went on to fame and fortune, such as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer, former Secretary of State and retired Gen. Colin Powell, the late Judge Basil Paterson and his son, former Gov. David Paterson.
They may not have attended the specialized high schools, but they excelled in the school they did attend. There are many reasons why, but undoubtedly, they excelled because the education standards and expectations of their youth are much higher than today.
Racial bias, poor classroom environments and poverty were in existence then as they are now. The key to overcoming these obstacles is to help students burst through them. And how does a society do that? Not by lowering the standards, but by raising the quality of a person’s education.
But that costs money the city, state and federal governments either do not have or do not want to provide. Instead, they take the much cheaper route of dumbing down standards at the expense of our children and future generations. It’s a horrible tradeoff that will reverberate in our society for decades to come.
The late newsman David Brinkley once said, “A successful man is one who can lay down a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at them.” The rules of entrance for elite high schools has been tried and true and dumbing them down is just plain wrong.
