There was a time when the New York City school system was a cause for civic pride, a selling point in drawing businesses to the city, and a wellspring for generations of New Yorkers who made great contributions to our society. Times have changed. Today, the system suffers from perennial underfunding and official neglect. Politicians use it as a whipping boy and editorial writers hold it up as an object of scorn.

Public Support Eroded

Although no one would admit it, racism is the primary reason for the school system’s decline and its failing to properly educate the next generation of New Yorkers. Earlier in the century, the schools competently educated millions of mostly white immigrants. Today, 84% of the students are children of color. The system changed from predominately white to predominately African American and Hispanic over several decades. Many white families moved to the suburbs. Those who stayed in the city often sent their children to private schools. As the racial composition of the students changed, an erosion in public support and tax dollars followed.

What are the consequences for the 1.1 million children trapped in the system? Less than 40% of students in city schools now pass the state Regents exam in English. Yet by 2003, all students must pass tough new Regents exams in five subjects in order to graduate. History has shown that city schools and students are unprepared for higher standards. In 1989, the last time Regents standards were raised, the number of city students earning Regents diplomas dropped from 37% to 23%. Without dramatic improvements in performance, high school graduation rates will drop even lower. Measured by 1997 pass rates on Regents exams, only 18% of the city’s youngsters will be able to graduate under the new state requirements.

To fix an ailing system, you need additional funds for improved teacher preparation, smaller class size, and repair of crumbling school buildings. These are minimal requirements.

Last year, the Community Service Society of New York commissioned a study to see how much the system needs in order to meet new Regents graduation standards. The study found that New York City will need over $1.5 billion in start-up funds to enable all of its students to meet the higher standards. Yet the state legislature allocated only $238 million for the city’s schools for the next fiscal year.

Can we show that racism creates inferior schooling? Yes. Across the state, students in predominately minority schools are twice as likely to be taught by uncertified teachers, six times as likely to be denied remedial instruction, and twice as likely to drop out than students in predominately white schools. They are often taught in crumbling, unsafe buildings and supplied with out-of-date textbooks. As a result, lower academic standards for minority students are tolerated. What can be done?  Last month, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against the state contending that the education minority students receive is so inferior that it constitutes discrimination.

Turn to Courts

Does all this sound familiar? Unable to obtain equal rights through legislatures, people of color turn to the courts to obtain remedies.  It’s a replay of the civil rights era of the 1950’s and 60’s. The Campaign for Fiscal Equity, a New York City group, has a lawsuit pending that contends that the state’s failure to provide adequate financing for city students constitutes discrimination against city schools. As an added insult, the Atlanta law firm defending the state — at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars — specializes in defending suits of educational funding bias and racial segregation.

In today’s society, life will indeed be bleak for those without a high school diploma. With no possibility of a college education, these young people will have difficulty finding a job in New York City’s increasingly hi-tech labor market. They’re more likely to end up on welfare or in prison. It’s already happening. In New York State in 1997, more African Americans and Hispanics went to prison for drug offenses than got degrees from SUNY schools. We can no longer allow the warehousing of our children in a dysfunctional educational system that prepares them for a future of failure and despair.

.Source: Jones, David R. “Racism Creates Bad Schools.” New York Amsterdam News (1962-), 28 Jan., 1999, pp. 5. ProQuest.