I am very interested to hear from Al
Sharpton on the failure of Chancellor Joel Klein & Mayor Michael
Bloomberg's claim to have narrowed the racial achievement gap since they took over the running of the NYC Public Schools in 2002. Presently, the usually outspoken Al
Sharpton has been strangely quiet about the disastrous conclusions coming out of the New York State tests for 2010 and the
NAEP results. Could it be about the apparently close interaction between Al
Sharpton and the DOE as identified in the
New York City Public School Parents blog? It was back in the
Spring of 2009 that the same blog question the motives of the man when Al
Sharpton joined forces with Joel Klein to form the
Education Equity Project. This project was to further narrow the achievement gap, instead the latest numbers have found that the narrowing of the achievement gap is simply
"smoke and mirrors". If anything the racial achievement gap has widened! Al
Sharpton should be outraged, instead there is just deafening silence from him, why?
Black Males Graduation Rates and 8th Grade Reading Levels: First, let's look at what has happened to black males, an alleged top priority for Al
Sharpton in the New York City Public Schools. According to the
Schott Foundation Of Public Education report, the graduation rate for Black males was a dismal 28% (Whites had a 50% graduation rate). This put New York City near the bottom of the lowest preforming large metropolitan areas for black male graduation rates. The black male graduation rate for New York City was the same as the troubled public school systems as Philadelphia, and New Orleans. While only 9% of the black males read at grade level which is actually less than a 10% rate back in 2003. The article about the report was
summarized by the New York daily News and can be found
here.
Racial Achievement Gap Fails To Narrow:The latest information shows that under
Bloomberg & Klein the racial achievement gap has failed to narrow since they took over. The composite reading scores of third to eighth grades, Blacks were 30% below their White counterparts and in Math 35% below. The New York Times reported these terrible results
here. According to NY1, the
racial achievement gap is as wide as back in 2002, when
Bloomberg & Klein took control of the New York City schools. In fact The Daily News claimed the
achievement gap actually widened between the rich and poor students.
New York State Test Scores Showed The Greatest Declines Among Minority Students & Schools:Gotham Schools printed the top and bottom 15 middle schools, based upon the New York State tests and one thing was very obvious. The top schools had a substantial population of White and Asian students while the bottom 15 was made up of Black and Hispanic students. Furthermore, the minority based schools like
PS 85 in the Bronx saw one of the more dramatic reversals seeing their third grade passing rate going from 81% passing in Math to 18% passing.
Klein Starves The Schools Of Funds While Increasing The Headcount At Tweed:Finally, Al
Sharpton has not commented on how the schools have been starved for funds (a 12% cutback in the last two years) while Tweed just increases their
headcount of non-educators. Furthermore, where is Al Sharpton's outrage when Joe Klein tried an
ill-advised and immoral procedure to get rid of an Autistic program to help one of
Bloomberg's hedge fund founders to expand the exclusive Charter School that shares the building.
Then again Al
Sharpton is really a politician and wants what is best for him and not what is best for the community he is supposed to represent.