Underperforming Schoolchildren in New York

As you know, New York’s Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza is an inveterate social justice warrior. He says that he cares about education but all he really cares about is diversity. 

Carranza has been on the job for a year now, and apparently, New York’s school children have shown miniscule improvements in math and languages. Hip Hip Hooree. 

And yet, racial and ethnic disparities still exist. The New York Post reports that New York’s schoolchildren are still chronic underperformers. Some groups underperform more than others. Here is the story:

More than half of city school kids still can’t handle basic math or English, even though this year’s state exams scores ticked up slightly, according to state data released Thursday.

While state officials lauded scoring upticks, only 47.4 percent of city students in grades 3 to 8 scored at proficient levels in English and 45.6 percent made the grade in math, according to the numbers.

The city’s overall English proficiency rate edged up by 0.7 percent from the prior year and math scores improved by 2.9 percent, the numbers show.

The city’s Asian kids had the highest rate of math and English proficiency yet again, the data show.

In math, 74.4 percent made the grade, followed by white students at 66.6, Hispanics at 33.2, and African-Americans at 28.2.

All ethnic groups posted gains in math, with whites improving by 3 percent, Hispanics by 2.9, African-Americans 2.8, and Asians 2.2, according to the figures.

Asian kids also set the pace in English with a 67.9 percent proficiency rate, followed by whites at 66.6, Hispanics at 36.5, and blacks at 35. All groups posted slight increases in the category.

You will note the irony: Asian children perform better at English than do white children.

Of course, charter schools performed the best of all:

City charters schools, now teaching roughly 10 percent of the city’s student population, markedly outperformed traditional public schools again, according to the state.

A total of 57.3 of charter city kids made the grade in English, the same percentage as last year – and 63.2 scored at proficient levels in math, a 3.6 percent jump.

The Success Academy charter schools boasted top results on the state tests once again.

Of the 7,405 Success Academy kids who took the exam, 99 percent passed math, with 86 percent hitting the the highest level of 4.

In English, 90 percent passed English, with 41 percent notching the top mark.

Network officials highlighted the performance of their Flatbush school, where all 47 of their third graders passed both exams. The school, which opened in 2016, does not have older grades yet, officials said.

One can only wonder what the numbers would look like if the city did not count charter schools. As you know, and to New York City’s and the Democratic Party’s shame, the teachers’ unions have been doing everything in their power to shut down charter schools. If that does not work, they will make sure that the city does not allow any more of them to open. We do not want New York schoolchildren to get a decent education, do we?