Amid the failures of New York City’s system of public education, its Gifted & Talented program has been a shining exception. But now it’s taken two hits — one from sheer incompetence, and another from political meddling.
The incompetence is easier to resolve. As The Post reports elsewhere today, the company responsible for the tests, Pearson, has made errors scoring them. Parents of children tested are understandably upset; if Pearson can’t fix the problem, the city should find someone who can.
The other hit has more to do with mayoral politics. It’s also more insidious. It takes the form of a proposal from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to make the gifted-and-talented programs “reflect the diversity of our city.”
Right now, admission to the popular program is based on merit — only the top 5 percent of students get in. Quinn’s plan would add thousands of seats for kids who don’t qualify by today’s standards. And she wants teachers to be able to add minorities regardless of their scores.
It’s true that many of those scoring well are white, and that Latinos, who make up roughly 40 percent of the city’s student population, constitute just 12 percent of the G&T program. But kids from Beijing and Bangalore are performing marvelously — yet they don’t seem to count as “diverse.”
Even more remarkable, students can take these tests in Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Mandarin, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Urdu. They can even try English if they prefer.
Now, we’re all for the city making more of an effort to expand opportunity and help more kids from all backgrounds and communities score high enough to qualify. But when the focus becomes a politicized call for diversity, the casualty is almost always merit — and those who demonstrate it.
And if that is allowed to happen, it will bring down one of the few public programs that allow our children to soar.