The Shame of Failing Schools

The Left would rather cage poor kids in failing schools than give them a better choice.

New York spends a whopping $36,293 per public school student — highest in the nation — yet for all that money, student scores are “middle-of-the-pack” on national math, reading and science tests, according to a new report from the Citizens Budget Commission. Those average test scores suggest taxpayers are getting ripped off, paying top dollar — $89 billion in all — for mediocrity.

But behind the averages is a far worse reality. New Yorkers are actually paying top dollar for abject failure.

Averages combine what kids in top districts like Scarsdale or Bronxville achieve with the abysmal scores of students trapped in failure factories in Poughkeepsie and Rochester, rural towns like Gloversville, and New York City’s worst public schools.

Trapping kids in schools where almost no learning occurs is an atrocious moral failing.
New York isn’t just squandering money. It’s squandering lives. Kids in Poughkeepsie, where only 5% of fourth graders are proficient in English, according to state data, have the odds stacked against them.

Persistently failing schools should be slammed shut, and students should be offered the chance to attend another school.

The State Education Department has a procedure called receivership — which keeps failing schools open and under review for three or even six years. It’s a charade that saves union jobs, not young lives.

Failing schools can be found in every pocket of poverty across the state.

Gloversville is a town of 15,000 that was once the glove-making capital of the U.S. Three-quarters of the primarily white student body is considered economically disadvantaged. However, the real disadvantage is that only 8% of eighth graders are proficient in math, and 6% of high schoolers test proficient in Algebra 1, according to state data. Yet Gloversville kids have no other educational option.

By comparison, economically disadvantaged public school students in Florida have alternatives if their district school fails them. They can enroll in another district public school or choose one of the state’s 700 charter schools. The result is stunning. Poor kids in Florida score higher in math and reading than poor kids anywhere else in the U.S., even though Florida ranks 43rd in per-pupil spending, according to the National Education Association.

Choice and competition pay off.

Outrageously, New York lawmakers are determined to maximize spending and minimize choice. The Democrats, who control both houses of the legislature, and several Republicans get endorsements and funding from the New York State United Teachers.

NYSUT calls the shots. New York pays the second-highest teacher salaries of any state. On top of that, a staggering $7,000 of the $36,293 spent per pupil goes to lavish health and retirement benefits, according to a Reason Foundation analysis.

The state legislature caps the number of charter schools despite evidence that charters educate kids at half the cost of district schools, usually with far better results.

Worst of all, a hierarchy makes an educational policy of totally insulated bureaucrats most New Yorkers have never heard of. The legislature handpicks a 15-member Board of Regents and then chooses a state education commissioner.

In 2000, a predominantly Republican state government ceded control of New York City’s public schools to the mayor. Huge improvements resulted, showing that making an elected official accountable can work. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg closed failing schools, increased charter schools, and gave every school a letter grade. No parents wanted their child in a D or F school. Student performance improved until Bloomberg’s successor, Bill de Blasio, stopped grading the schools and halted the expansion of charters. New York City needs an education mayor again, explains Manhattan Institute’s Ray Domanico.

Statewide, progress begins with electing a legislature willing to stand up to NYSUT. Voting for lawmakers backed by NYSUT is like voting against your own child.

Secondly, the state legislature needs to minimize the Regents’ powers — a change allowed by the state’s constitution — and put education policy outside New York City in the hands of the governor.

Most importantly, the legislature must free kids imprisoned in union-run failure factories by expanding charter schools and devising a fair way for these students to move to a neighboring town’s school, with the state picking up the tab.

Time to end the shame of New York’s failing schools.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York State and co-founder of Save Our City at www.saveourcityny.org. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To find out more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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