The ‘Equity’ of Bill de Blasio

What’s progressive about fighting public schools where racial minorities succeed?

By William McGurn of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"by some measures the racial achievement gap in New York City has widened under Mr. de Blasio. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, from 2013 to 2019 the black-white gap for fourth-graders increased six points in math and two in reading.

Two facts stand out about public education in the de Blasio years. First, the majority of the city’s black and Latino students can’t read or do math at grade level. Second, the city’s poor and minority students do better at charters than at traditional public schools. Alas, instead of trying to fix the public schools where kids aren’t learning, the mayor has made war on the ones where they are.

Take the eight high-performing specialized high schools. Citing the disgracefully low number of African-Americans and Latinos who earn spots at these schools, Mr. de Blasio has tried to abolish or at least diminish the merit-based entrance exam—even if this means denying seats to another racial minority, Asian-Americans. Ditto for the Gifted and Talented programs."

"Success Academy reports that the typical racial breakdown for one of its charters is 60.8% black and 34.4% Latino (against 25.5% black and 40.6% Latino in the city’s traditional public schools). And students are selected by lottery. A 2017 headline in New York magazine sums it up well: “Charters Didn’t Cause Segregation. They’re a Solution for Its Victims.”"