Opinion

New York City’s misleading graduation rates

The Good: The latest figures show the four-year graduation rate for New York City high-school kids hit an all-time high this year: 66%.

The Bad: More than half these graduates are not ready for college or a job.

The Ugly: If most city students weren’t ready to move on but did anyway, doesn’t it suggest social promotion is alive and well?

“New York City Students Achieved All-Time Record High School Graduation Rates,” boasted the headline on a City Hall press release. “The continued increase in graduation rates provide further evidence of the incredible progress New York City students are making and the impact our reforms have had,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

We don’t deny that the city’s schools have improved somewhat over the 12 years Bloomberg has been in power (even if the mayor overstates the gains). But it’s also vital to be clear-eyed about just how awful things remain for the majority of this city’s public-school students: Among those who entered high school as freshmen in 2009, only 31.4 percent were college- or career-ready by ­August.

What this means is that 7 in 10 New York students were unprepared for the post-high-school world after four years. Even among the two-thirds who graduated, 53.2% — more than half — aren’t ready.

So why are kids allowed to graduate if they’re unprepared? After all, it does them, colleges and potential employers no favors.

Background: To earn a diploma, the state requires students to score only a 65 or better on their Regents tests. The state also says that kids who score below 80 on the math Regents, or 75 on the English Regents, aren’t ready for either higher education or a job.

So though it makes no sense to let people graduate if their scores say they are unprepared, officials tell you the political reality is that it was hard enough to push through a 65-score requirement.

If Bill de Blasio is serious about improving life for the forgotten New York, there’s no better place to start than here.

When this city lets children leave high school with a diploma that does not signal real achievement, we are effectively consigning them to a future on the margins of American prosperity. And that’s something no mayor of New York should ever accept.