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Also if you want to speak about children, white people don't just marry white people these days. You've increased numbers of interracial couples. Whites not only marry Asians, but many whites marry Hispanics and white marriages to blacks have also increased.
Not to get O/T, but Far Rock HS used to offer automotive repair, as did many NYC high schools and it had driver's ed. In the 1980s, it was supposed to have some sort of engineering concentration, which of course was just PR as it was rapidly slipping down the ranks of NYC high schools.
SMH....Nobel Peace prize winners came out of Far Rockaway HS......from the farthest reaches of the city, you could even find the best talent.....thats why this city really rocked the planet......we really jacked up this one.......we had the best public school system in the ****ing nation, I'm sorry!
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
2) To what extent does funding truly affect school preformance?
Schools in wealthier neighborhoods get more money. Parents can fundraise and donate to schools in wealthier districts. Plus municipalities with good tax bases raise more taxes.
A poor municipality like Newark has a lower tax base, plus parents and alumni who don't have the resources to fundraise. Earlier when I mentioned NYC's selective public schools, someone mentioned how these schools alumni donate money to them.
Teachers don't work for free, so the more money you have, the better a school chances are of attracting teachers who will stay longer term.
It's not just pay, there are other factors such as the classroom conditions and how much authority teachers feel they have.
Teachers are more likely to stay long term in the better paying districts. Districts where teachers are paid poorly disproportionately rely on staffing by programs like Teach for America, which hire uncertified teacher who just have bachelor degrees. They enroll in the program, teach for a couple of years and leave and go to law school, med school, or grad school.
"Every year, thousands of fresh-faced teachers are handed the keys to a new classroom, given a pat on the back and told, "Good luck!"
Over the next five years, though, nearly half of those teachers will transfer to a new school or leave the profession altogether — only to be replaced with similarly fresh-faced teachers."
At some schools, parent associations pay for part-time music teachers. At others, they pay for lunchroom aides, or library workers who are considered consultants.
It's an open secret that parent associations in many of the city's well-heeled neighborhoods in effect buy staff members whom their schools couldn't afford on their own. But it's been difficult to determine the extent of this spending because the Department of Education tracks only a sliver of parent fund-raising and spending.
However, documents obtained by WNYC and SchoolBook show that at least 40 schools across New York City were able to pay for bigger staffs last year with money from parent groups. The list highlights the difference parents can make in providing services at the public schools during a time of budget cuts.
As expected, many of the 40 schools are in wealthy neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn where community members are able to step in to provide the kinds of programs common in suburban districts. But the list also includes schools in upper-middle-class neighborhoods in Queens. In more modest enclaves on Staten Island and in Queens, parents raised a few thousand dollars for part-time band teachers.
It also shows how little the Department of Education can regulate parent groups, because some have long-standing tax-exempt organizations and pay for part-time school staff members directly, enabling them to fly under the department's radar.
Among the parent groups at those 40 schools the department could track, the PTA at Public School 321 William Penn in Park Slope raised $176,665 for personnel last year, the second-highest amount raised by a school's parent organization in the city.
“That money went to pay for a full-time D.O.E. arts teacher and five part-time consultants,” said the principal, Liz Phillips. She said the consultants included “a computer technician, an arts consultant, our after-school coordinator, and two teaching assistants who mainly assist with our conflict-resolution/mediation program and our after-school program.”
Schools in wealthier neighborhoods get more money. Parents can fundraise and donate to schools in wealthier districts. Plus municipalities with good tax bases raise more taxes.
A poor municipality like Newark has a lower tax base, plus parents and alumni who don't have the resources to fundraise. Earlier when I mentioned NYC's selective public schools, someone mentioned how these schools alumni donate money to them.
Teachers don't work for free, so the more money you have, the better a school chances are of attracting teachers who will stay longer term.
It's not just pay, there are other factors such as the classroom conditions and how much authority teachers feel they have.
Teachers are more likely to stay long term in the better paying districts. Districts where teachers are paid poorly disproportionately rely on staffing by programs like Teach for America, which hire uncertified teacher who just have bachelor degrees. They enroll in the program, teach for a couple of years and leave and go to law school, med school, or grad school.
"Every year, thousands of fresh-faced teachers are handed the keys to a new classroom, given a pat on the back and told, "Good luck!"
Over the next five years, though, nearly half of those teachers will transfer to a new school or leave the profession altogether — only to be replaced with similarly fresh-faced teachers."
That's quite ironic because that many specialized public schools do much better than charter schools. Charter schools also have a high turnover rate where teachers do not stay very long, and some are eventually faced with closing. A few charter schools in New Jersey closed last year. Teachers are overworked and offen are constantly pressured to produce results instead of teaching. I'm not saying there are no good charter schools because there are. Based on what I've heard from parents charter schools can be just as bad or worse as public schools.
That's quite ironic because that many specialized public schools do much better than charter schools. Charter schools also have a high turnover rate where teachers do not stay very long, and some are eventually faced with closing. A few charter schools in New Jersey closed last year. Teachers are overworked and offen are constantly pressured to produce results instead of teaching. I'm not saying there are no good charter schools because there are. Based on what I've heard from parents charter schools can be just as bad or worse as public schools.
You realize specialized public school and the best charter schools filter out the least desirable students? The advantage specialized public school have is it get to pick the brightest kids, while charter school has to accept a mix bag of kids and push the the least desirable ones out of school via suspension and repeating the grade.
SMH....Nobel Peace prize winners came out of Far Rockaway HS......from the farthest reaches of the city, you could even find the best talent.....thats why this city really rocked the planet......we really jacked up this one.......we had the best public school system in the ****ing nation, I'm sorry!
That's quite ironic because that many specialized public schools do much better than charter schools. Charter schools also have a high turnover rate where teachers do not stay very long, and some are eventually faced with closing. A few charter schools in New Jersey closed last year. Teachers are overworked and offen are constantly pressured to produce results instead of teaching. I'm not saying there are no good charter schools because there are. Based on what I've heard from parents charter schools can be just as bad or worse as public schools.
Specialized public high schools have a strict entry filtering - in the form of exams (SHS) or other criteria. Charters just have an unweighted lottery (where there is more demand than slots - and that is common). Virtually every SHS school in NYC is majority Asian. In contrast, virtually every Charter is majority black/hispanic. Last year NYC public schools outperformed the traditional public schools in the ELA and math tests on many grades - even thought they are majority black & hispanic. Black & Hispanic parents in the city in poorer areas want charters (they are massively oversubscribed) - DeBlasio and the unions don't (in cahoots - one lobbies and endorses the other gives them their contracts...) There's no comparison - and certainly it isn't "ironic" - more "disgraceful."
Yes there are some fantastic traditional public schools - but the anti-charter movement is driven by one of the biggest lobbyists (for decades) in NYS - the teachers' unions. And the teachers' unions don't represent the students' best interests - they represent the teachers' best interests which aren't the same thing.
As for the "white schools getting more money" in the NYC system - they don't get more, in fact with federal money the disadvantaged schools get more per student. Yes as is pointed out above the parents may raise more money and give it to the school - good for them! But the schools aren't getting more money from either the city, the state or the feds.
As for school districts in the US nationally - yes its different and the wealthier white areas have higher local taxes for spending on schools. NYC - different system.
Specialized public high schools have a strict entry filtering - in the form of exams (SHS) or other criteria. Charters just have an unweighted lottery (where there is more demand than slots - and that is common). Virtually every SHS school in NYC is majority Asian. In contrast, virtually every Charter is majority black/hispanic. Last year NYC public schools outperformed the traditional public schools in the ELA and math tests on many grades - even thought they are majority black & hispanic. Black & Hispanic parents in the city in poorer areas want charters (they are massively oversubscribed) - DeBlasio and the unions don't (in cahoots - one lobbies and endorses the other gives them their contracts...) There's no comparison - and certainly it isn't "ironic" - more "disgraceful."
Yes there are some fantastic traditional public schools - but the anti-charter movement is driven by one of the biggest lobbyists (for decades) in NYS - the teachers' unions. And the teachers' unions don't represent the students' best interests - they represent the teachers' best interests which aren't the same thing.
As for the "white schools getting more money" in the NYC system - they don't get more, in fact with federal money the disadvantaged schools get more per student. Yes as is pointed out above the parents may raise more money and give it to the school - good for them! But the schools aren't getting more money from either the city, the state or the feds.
As for school districts in the US nationally - yes its different and the wealthier white areas have higher local taxes for spending on schools. NYC - different system.
Charter schools pay the teachers less money and give the teachers more work. So turnover at charters is very high. You don't have to be certified to teach at a charter, so any person with a BA and no background in education can get a job at a charter.
And there are a number of charter schools that perform WORSE than traditional public schools. Charters like Eva Moskowitz Success Academies are rare.
But back to teachers and charter schools, who wants to do more work, for less pay and less benefits?
"The study, conducted by the university’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, analyzed student performance in 15 states and the District of Columbia, amassing data on roughly 70 percent of students enrolled in charter schools nationwide. Researchers found that only a small percentage of these students fared better after enrolling in a charter school." NEA - Study: Charter Schools Not Keeping Their Promise to America's Students
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