The Equity of Bill de Blasio – WSJ

Two facts stand out about public education in the de Blasio years. First, the majority of the city s black and Latino students can t read or do math at grade level. Second, the city s poor and minority students do better at charters than at traditional public schools. Alas, instead of trying to fix the public schools where kids aren t learning, the mayor has made war on the ones where they are.

Take the eight high-performing specialized high schools. Citing the disgracefully low number of African-Americans and Latinos who earn spots at these schools, Mr. de Blasio has tried to abolish or at least diminish the merit-based entrance exam even if this means denying seats to another racial minority, Asian-Americans. Ditto for the Gifted and Talented programs.

When he does offer reform, it tends to come in the form of jobs programs for adults, such as universal pre-K or expanded after-school activities. Otherwise, Mr. de Blasio s interpretation of equity seems to be that if he can t fix the bad schools, he ll cut the good ones down to size.

Indeed, the more successful charters are, the more the mayor resents them. He resents them because they don t excuse failure and they demonstrate that all kids can learn given the right school, including schools in which black children are surrounded by other black children. It s why he particularly resents Success Academy charters, arguably the best public schools in all of New York.

via www.wsj.com