Officials: 80 Percent Of Recent NYC High School Graduates Cannot Read

[zoosermom]

<p>

I hope the board won’t flame me for stating another truth. Not all of the people who feel this way are anti-Semites or racists. There is a lot of truth to the stereotype that Jewish and Asian families stress academic achievement more than other groups do.

That is the God’s honest truth. And I didn’t want to imply that it was justified, just that it was happening. Another example is LaGuardia high school. My son is a very serious musician who hangs around with other very serious male musicians. Kids who go to the top music camps and stuff. Not lazy at all, play hours a day. But interestingly, a lot of them auditioned to LaGuardia last year, were admitted, and chose not to go because they perceive it as to be too girl-centric. All of the girls in his wider circle who were admitted chose to attend, but only one of the boys. Interestingly, a bunch of the boys chose Stuyvesant instead because they thought they would be more comfortable there. </p>

<p>

There’s also the “big fish” “little fish” question. I know a young man who is URM and goes to a mostly minority high school. He took the PSAT as a sophomore and got the highest score at his high school. Everyone is calling him “brilliant.” His score would put him about the middle of the class at Stuy. It’s simply reality that he gets a lot more attention and encouragement at his school than he would at a sci high.

In the big picture he might be doing a very smart thing. My D ended up in a top program in her school and the opportunities and amenities available to her were staggering. One of the little secrets of NYC public high school is that there are partnerships and donations given to a lot of schools which end up going to the achievers in those schools, who are often middle-class kids, rather than underprivileged.</p>