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Depressing, not surprising, but mainly depressing.  I taught argumentative writing for a few years at a state university, and my mind was consistently blown by how ill-prepared the vast majority of students were (as writers, at least.  I’m sure they were all brilliant physicists).  Most of them weren’t poor and didn’t appear to have had much trouble getting As in high school.  And most of them were probably “college ready” by whatever standard that implies.  So to see a number like 13%, wow.

These are sad statistics. The at risk schools need to be given tools and incentives to keep these schools afloat rather than letting them fail.

From the Daily News article regarding this study, “City schools officials defended the mayor’s record, noting that the citywide college readiness rate — currently 13% for black students and 15% for Latinos — is better than when Bloomberg took office. “Since our administration’s reforms, college readiness rates have nearly doubled for black and Latino students — but there is still more work to do,” spokeswoman Erin Hughes said.”

Even if it has “doubled” which I am not sure about since I college readiness seems to have only be tracked recently, this is a disgrace.  How can we have a so called “Education Mayor” for almost 11 years now, and say that this is acceptable.  All he has done is destroy neighborhood schools, and bash teachers.   This is an extremely important story that I hope a lot of people read, but as noted below, it is truly depressing.

Think about this: The Upper East Side has a 70% college readiness rate and East Harlem has an 18% college readiness rate. However, there are tenured teachers in both the Upper East Side as well as East Harlem. Also, teachers from both of these locations are still evaluated under the “S” or “U” system. The fact is that neither tenure nor the current teacher evaluation system can or should be blamed for college readiness with such a high difference in these two locations. On a side note, I’d bet that there are probably a whole lot more tenured teachers on the Upper East Side than in East Harlem as these schools tend to not have as many TFA’ers or face huge staff turnover problems. But in the end, the ed-deformers don’t care about petty facts like poverty as it is all about “no excuses”. 

The  “plan” to  counter  all  of  the  points  you  stated, is  to  put  all  of  the  responsibility  on  the  teachers.  Turn  the  teaching  profession  into  one  of  the  least  desirable  professions.  Burn  out  all  of  the  teachers  within  a few  years  of  their  entrance  into  the  profession.  Watch  the  college  readiness  rate  drop  from  18%  to  8%  in  a decade.  Then  “scratch  our  heads”  and  wonder  what  to  do  next.

Thank you Mr. Flerporillo…because the plan is:  There is no plan.  Just like there was no plan when the TurnAround debacle failed.
All of this is one big commercial “college ready” is a buzzword, just like: “raise standards,” “students first,” “it’s about the kids,” etc. 

As I’ve pointed out before, there is an alternative plan well supported by research: high quality and extensive pre-K, a plan in fact championed by Obama in 2008 but later disregarded under Arnie Duncan. It is expensive and long term; words that most politicians don’t want to hear who want credit for a quick fix. Someday the US may get such a plan, but probably not any time soon.   

No, ” Just  put  me  down”  as  one  who  believes  with  a great  deal  of  confidence,  that  the  current  strategy  will  NOT  work.

 Mr. Flerporillo,I think there is certainly much that could be done in order to make a tremendous impact in regards to overcoming the the tremendous impact that poverty has on children and student achievement. I’ll lay it out after this short rant. 1. I bet that college & career readiness rates were the same if not higher before this administration. Back then, neighborhood schools and districts did a much better job of articulation then they do now. Although more students supposedly did not graduate, the ones that did, met higher standards. 2. Make no mistake that this conversation is being led by the 1% who; A. want to see as much privatization in public the public sector as it ultimately means more money and opportunity for them. Teachers, custodian, food services, it’s just a matter of time before they set their sights on the police force the way they have prisons. (Crime is big business) B. Pensions, there is a double bonus here, let private employees put money in privately managed 401ks, etc. Remember, there’s a lot money to be made in Education. The vultures will continue to prey and are very difficult to deter. 3. College Readiness is defined by 75 on English Regents & 80 Algebra, or meeting the 3 year sequence in math (Algebra, Geometry, Trig.) or a particular score on the SAT.  If a student scores 85 on the ELA & 79 on the Algebra, doesn’t complete the 3 year sequence and doesn’t take the SAT, he may very end up at a community college and eventually a graduate from a 4 year school. So the metrics which qualify this standard are gibberish. Now to the solution:From the day someone decides to take this on, this has to happen on multiple levels.Absolutely this starts with early childhood. Getting students into early enriching environments for an entire day. I would recommend 8-5. This would support healthy play habits, build a foundation for students, allow parents the time to work or get job training. But you also need to teach parents how to be parents and what they should be doing to support their children. I know how dare I say such a thing. But just because you know how to make a baby, doesn’t mean you know how to raise one. We shouldn’t assume that. Those on public assistance it would mandatory for this support. Teenage mothers, should have various options to support them. Oh, by the way you need wrap around services. NYC should be able to coordinate services but this administration has no clue on how to do that, one on their major failings. That was what mayoral control should have done. Next, let’s go back to districts. That way we could bring back articulation between, elementary, middle schools, & high schools. We need to identify students at risk, and track them through the system. Cradle to College or Career. We also need to reestablish strong vocational programs. We need to rebuild the arts & sports programs at early ages. This is going to cost a fortune you say. Nope, same money, maybe even less over the long run as you get more students on track, less young men going through incarceration. Less single parent households, although in itself is for another conversation. Sorry folks, I have to get back to work, but this can be done. But it will only be done when people who have committed their lives to this work are put in a position of power to affect change in this system. Those leading policy in this city have never done this work. They have agendas that are in the best interest of a wealthy minority. The rest are here to support that cause. Sorry I was unable to finish my manifesto for change. Take care and keep advocating for kids.

Do East Harlem and the Upper East Side have any difference in their legitimacy birth rates?  It seems to me that the rather than poverty causing poor education, absentee fathers could be the cause of both low incomes and lack of academic achievement.