City principals are up in arms over a new plan that gives bonus points this year to high schools based on graduates going to college — but doesn’t count those who join the military.
Department of Education officials met with a group of principals last week to explain changes in Progress Reports coming out this fall. Schools that send more kids to community or baccalaureate colleges within six to 18 months will get extra credit.
When a principal asked about points for grads who choose to enlist in the armed forces, he was shot down.
“The military isn’t college. It doesn’t count,” the group was told.
In response to criticism, DOE officials say they are working to gather military enlistment records and eventually credit schools for grads who sign up to serve the country — which spokesman Matt Mittenthal called a “strong career track.”
The DOE recently got access to the National Student Clearinghouse, which lists those enrolled at 70 percent of the nation’s colleges, including CUNY and SUNY.
The extra points for college enrollment can help improve the letter grade given to each school — from “A” to “F” — and polish its image.
But principals are shellshocked that young heroes who may be sent to battle won’t get, for now, the same nod as peers who head for the dorms.
“It’s a great option for kids to serve our country. In return, they’ll learn valuable work-force skills that will translate into successful careers,” one said.
Another said, “The military can be a stepping stone for college, especially for kids who don’t have the money — or are just committed to serve out of a sense of duty. I say that should be counted.”
“It doesn’t seem right,” agreed Willie Pan, a senior at Francis Lewis HS in Queens and member of the school’s ROTC battalion, the Patriots. He joined the Army and leaves for basic training at Fort Knox, SC, in June.
Pan said he scored in the 98th percentile on an Armed Forces vocational aptitude test, and chose intelligence analysis as a specialty.
“I have future goals to become a military officer, and I’m eventually going to college, but I’d rather get some experience in the field first,” he said.
The DOE’s chief academic officer, Shael Polakow-Suransky, told The Post his staff, at the urging of principals, has begun contacting local recruitment centers to collect data. But it will take time, he said, because the records are on paper, not electronic.
He hopes to start a “career section” on Progress Reports that counts grads who join the military or pursue trades in the fall of 2013.
The brouhaha comes on the heels of Adolfo Carrion, a former White House director of Urban Affairs and Bronx borough president, angering unions by saying retail jobs “are not really career positions” suitable to support a family.
He was opposing a living-wage bill in New York, saying, “You don’t grow up in Kingsbridge and aspire to be a retail worker at, you know, Modell’s. You just, you know, you don’t.”