The New York Times editorial board contradicted itself in a Sunday article about New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to better integrate students into eight specialized high schools.
Titled “It’s Time to Integrate New York’s Best Schools,” the article addresses de Blasio’s idea to replace the required admissions test — which disproportionately hinders black and Latino students from selection — with a better system that would focus more on middle school grades and state exam performance, criteria more promising for minorities.
The Times at first says the mayor is taking an “important step” and that his “plan is far from radical,” citing the University of Texas’ similar approach.
Several positive statistics are listed: Students from hundreds of middle schools would see new offers to attend the elite high schools, and black/Latino representation would rise from 10.4 of specialized high school students to 45 percent.
But in a near 180 degree turn, the editorial board also states that the plan will only succeed if those eight high schools improve their remedial programs. If not, “students who were at the top of their classes but whose middle schools may not have prepared them for the rigor” of the specialized high schools would fall through the cracks. (RELATED: NY Times Hides Data On Why Boys Can’t Read)
The editorial board also can’t decide where the city government should focus its attention.
The article claims racial minorities have felt isolated in the eight majority white/Asian high schools, but also points to non-specialized minority schools needing more city assistance.