The thread on
fair & equitable admissions criteria for NYC schools generated some positive and productive discussion. This thread introduces a few stories about educational opportunities for gifted students in NYC. There may be several paths to success... none of which appear to include lowering standards.
1.
Teen goes from Bronx homeless shelter to full-ride at MITBy Selim Algar
New York Post
June 7, 2018
“There was stress that got in the way of getting my work done and staying positive. But that’s when the discipline helps to push you through.”
...
demanding culture
...
“These are the results, right here. We’re just kids trying to go to college and we took an opportunity that was given to us,” ...
he and his classmates depended on each other through more than a decade of challenge and temptation.
...
“We feed off of each other’s aspirations,”
...
“When you compare Success Academy to other schools, you see the structure. You don’t run from that. You use it to be successful.”
2.
How nonprofits are boosting NYC’s brightest minority studentsBy Sara Dorn and Susan Edelman
New York Post
June 9, 2018
Hundreds of the city’s black and Latino kids have found a pipeline to success that Mayor de Blasio doesn’t mention.
The mayor and Chancellor Richard Carranza contend the city’s eight top-performing specialized schools unfairly bar African-Americans and Hispanics from getting in — and point to the paltry 10 percent of their enrollment at the prestigious schools as justification for scrapping the admissions test.
But the mayor isn’t counting at least 1,500 talented minority and immigrant kids from the city’s poorest neighborhoods currently enrolled in ritzy private and boarding schools — most for free — and headed for scholarships at top universities.
...
According to city Department of Education data, a stunning 27 percent of high-performing black and Latino students offered seats in the city’s specialized high schools snub them.
3. Donors appear to be voting with their wallets
Department of Education donations are plummeting under de BlasioBy Bruce Golding
New York Post
June 18, 2018
The fund — which exists to support public education with money from philanthropic foundations and other donors — was established in 1982 and is chaired by the city’s schools chancellor.
Under Bloomberg, a billionaire supporter of education-reform efforts, the fund grew into a fund-raising powerhouse, raking in $400 million during his three terms.
During fiscal 2012, which ended six months before de Blasio took office, it spent $34.6 million on the DOE and reported a $12.2 million surplus.
But grants to the DOE have fallen steadily under de Blasio, from $31.6 million in fiscal 2013 to $17.7 million in fiscal 2016 — the lowest since fiscal 2005.
