GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Five or six years to graduate does not mean a student was necessarily in school for five or six years, it just means he or she earned a diploma five or six years after entering the 9th grade. It makes sense to me to educate students who drop out or have limited English or health problems, even if it takes a little bit longer than the traditional four years we’d like to expect.

Queens Parent please for once have some facts before you sit down and place fingers to keyboard.

QP clearly didn’t get the fax that rising graduation rates — even on the 12-year plan (assuming no more term limit extensions… for the children) — is part of Dear Leader’s “all successes all the time” platform.

Note the bigger bump between 4 and 5 year (9 or 10%), than between 5 and 6 year (roughly 3%), rates. Then again, that’s marginal in a declining pool. I’ll tinker more with this later. On first glance, it would suggest that while there may not be that many students on the 6-year plan, those that are, we’re not doing so well with them.

Howzabout a charter… or special center… for just those kids? Clearly they need something OTHER than a repeat of “grade 13.”

For many, it’s remedial classes in community colleges and then dropping out of college because of the costs.  I trust no numbers the DOE or this mayoral administration ever “deals” out…whether educational, crime statistics, or financial.  That’s what happens when corruption pervades those who run the city.

Keep it Moving, NYC.

I am tempted not to touch the rest of the above rant from someone who has suggested a good number of times that many of the rest of us have prejudices and stereotypes for having suggested inflated tests scores were hurting, not helping, the most at-risk kids.

Oh, what the heck: Better we inflate the scores, use those to inflate the School Progress Reports, hand out diplomas worth less than those given out by the Wizard of Oz (to those who have brains but were merely lacking a diploma), dump the under-educated on the CUNY system, and declare victory while crowing on and on about putting children’s interests before adults’ interests — like the false savings at issue perhaps?

And AGAIN with blaming the teachers.

Sheesh.

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
– Frederick Douglass