dagblog - Comments for "Major fight going on about the meritocratic nature of the NYC public school system"

I'm not that impressed by

artappraiser — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 13:11:26 +0000

In reply to Major fight going on about the meritocratic nature of the NYC public school system

I'm not at all impressed with the quality of this student op-ed, but the NYDaily News photograph illustrating it is worth a thousand words and certainly fodder for those who might have racist thoughts about Asian-Americans:

“Constantly being reminded that we are not wanted in the school we attend is painful, and would obstruct any hardworking student from getting the education they deserve.”https://t.co/mWDFOUmGf6
— Stacey E. Singleton (@staceyNYCDC) July 1, 2019

I liked, because: outside the

artappraiser — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 06:59:57 +0000

In reply to Major fight going on about the meritocratic nature of the NYC public school system

I liked, because: "outside the box"

The Complex Disadvantages Underlying New York City’s Specialized-High-School Dilemma

By Andrew Boryga @ NewsDesk @ NewYorker.com, June 15, 2018

I grew up in the Bronx, less than five minutes, by foot, from two of New York City’s specialized public high schools, the tuition-free institutions heralded for their rigor and prestige. I often rode my bike past the entrance to the High School for American Studies, and played Little League in the bumpy Harris Field, across the street from Bronx Science’s sprawling, fenced-off campus. Yet I didn’t know one person from my neighborhood who attended either school. Instead, I watched as mostly white and Asian students unloaded from private buses and nearby trains, shuttling into both schools, and, at the end of the day, disappearing again to other boroughs or suburban counties.

So I was not at all surprised when, earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio cited a statistic about eight of the city’s nine specialized public schools [.....]

I am reminded of a conversation with a Manhattan white shoe lawyer, a fellow boomer, who also tries to keep up with how youngins these days are thinking, also a practicing conservative NY area Jew since childhood, so experienced the specific local upper class prejudices of the era. Vis-a-vis, precisely: the whole Ivy League wanna be thing, will get you everything you want in life. We started by remarking on how many men we know of our age who are working themselves to death to pay those Ivy League tuitions. And how they've been on a hamster wheel since their kids were little trying to get them there. And for: what exactly? Is it not that not just jobs are changing, but the whole nature of work? And that the next generation does not at all see things the same way the last several did? And how nobody in the big money tech world gives a damn about anyone going to Hahvad or Yale or Brown? And how nobody gives a damn about Muffy and Buffy of Park Avenue and Palm Beach anymore? They are toast, their world is dying. So why, again, is everyone fighting so hard to get into Ivy League and then pay for it? Who is gonna care? It's like that commercial jingle: we want something else!

My wife and I were just

Michael Wolraich — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 03:33:08 +0000

In reply to Major fight going on about the meritocratic nature of the NYC public school system

My wife and I were just debating this over dinner. One thought that struck me, which neither piece mentions, is the effect on the middle schools. Currently, many NYC parents are desperate to put their kids on the right track--get into an elite elementary school to get into an elite middle school to get into an elite high school. But what if attending an elite middle school wasn't the best path to an elite middle high school? Under De Blasio's more ambitious plan, it might be more effective to aim for the top 7 percent at a weaker middle school in order to get into an elite high school. That could have the effect of diversifying the middle schools, which would be a good thing.

Here's the other op-ed:

artappraiser — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 01:55:34 +0000

In reply to Major fight going on about the meritocratic nature of the NYC public school system

Here's the other op-ed:

No Ethnic Group Owns Stuyvesant. All New Yorkers Do.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan would destroy the best high schools in New York City.

By Boaz Weinstein, June 13

Mr. Weinstein is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and is on the board of its alumni association.

Illustrated with a picture of a recent protest, gives you an idea of the heat surrounding this:

Protesting Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposal to revamp admissions
to New York City’s specialized high schools
Credit Kevin Hagen for The New York Times