Earlier this year, two-thirds of the city s fourth graders failed to meet the reading standards on the state test. There was a time when the New York City school system was a beacon of light for immigrants and the poor. It provided a free education that helped to lift generations of New Yorkers out of poverty and into the middle class. That was when the system educated mostly white European immigrants. Now the student population is overwhelmingly Black and Hispanic, and it is underfunded and ignored by the state.
Employers have no faith that the system s graduates can compete in the local job market.
That lack of faith is reflected in the scores of fourth and eighth graders on reading and math tests. Students are not receiving the help necessary to do well on these tests. It is an indication of worse things to come. The New York State Board of Regents recently formulated new, tougher graduation requirements for high school students. The system of teacher assignments insures that the worst performing schools get the most inexperienced teachers.