GBFan
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Lily Tomlin said it best: “No matter how cynical you get, it’s impossible to keep up.” She might have been thinking of the city’s Department of Education.
The educrats’ response to the civil-rights lawsuit filed by parents whose kids were blocked from a charter-school expansion in Harlem was a classic of misinformation. “We remain deeply committed to the rights of all students, and ensuring every child has access to a great education,” a department aide claimed.
Look at the facts. The middle-school charter the kids planned to attend, Success Academy IV, was one of the best-performing schools in the city. Its fifth-graders had a 96 percent pass rate on the state math test and 53 percent in English.
By comparison, four other middle schools the students could be assigned to had scores ranging from dismal to disgraceful. The highest was 17 percent passing in math in one school. The three others had rates below 10 percent in both subjects.
But that apparently qualifies as a “great education” by City Hall standards.
The contrast captures the incoherence not just of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s attack on charters, but also of his overall education policy. He refuses to consider closing failing schools, and is missing in action on other mainstream reforms, such as teacher accountability and merit pay.
Add the fact that the charter kids he wants to block are black and Hispanic, and it becomes impossible to reconcile the mayor’s actions with his rhetoric.
Then again, at least the kids involved are learning something. Now they know what “cynical” means.
The educrats’ response to the civil-rights lawsuit filed by parents whose kids were blocked from a charter-school expansion in Harlem was a classic of misinformation. “We remain deeply committed to the rights of all students, and ensuring every child has access to a great education,” a department aide claimed.
Look at the facts. The middle-school charter the kids planned to attend, Success Academy IV, was one of the best-performing schools in the city. Its fifth-graders had a 96 percent pass rate on the state math test and 53 percent in English.
By comparison, four other middle schools the students could be assigned to had scores ranging from dismal to disgraceful. The highest was 17 percent passing in math in one school. The three others had rates below 10 percent in both subjects.
But that apparently qualifies as a “great education” by City Hall standards.
The contrast captures the incoherence not just of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s attack on charters, but also of his overall education policy. He refuses to consider closing failing schools, and is missing in action on other mainstream reforms, such as teacher accountability and merit pay.
Add the fact that the charter kids he wants to block are black and Hispanic, and it becomes impossible to reconcile the mayor’s actions with his rhetoric.
Then again, at least the kids involved are learning something. Now they know what “cynical” means.
