New York’s school leaders are citing “progress” in the state test scores released Thursday.
Yet for most kids now in the public schools, the message is depressing: Even if you graduate, you probably won’t be prepared for college or a job.
Statewide, just 35.8 percent of third- through eighth-graders passed math, up from 31.2 percent. Just 31.4 percent passed English, compared to 31.3 percent last year.
Translation: Roughly two out of three kids aren’t cutting it. Among black and Hispanic kids, the failure rate was even worse.
Yes, there’s some “progress.” But at this rate of improvement, it’s fair to say most of today’s students will be failing for most of the years they are in school.
How can anyone deem that morally acceptable? How can officials keep using the same school model, save for some tinkering around the edges, such as universal pre-K?
City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña actually called Thursday’s scores “wonderful news” (though she admitted they could be better). Mayor de Blasio called it “a good day” for city schools.
A good day? Four out of five black students in the city and about as many Hispanics flunked.
Fact is, Thursday’s scores are a powerful call for radical change. A possible alternative model: the city’s Success Academy charter schools.
There, 94 percent of kids passed math, and 64 percent, English. Even as their students’ demographics are similar to those of all city students.
There may be other models, too. But one thing’s certain: sticking to government-run schools — where unions dictate much of the policy and ineffective teachers are rarely fired — is sure to cheat kids.