Cardozo in Queens was always a zoned high school. I can't wait to hear about the horrors that happened there (lol).
It wasn't that great 20 years ago (when its zone was largely white and suburban and everyone raved about it). My HS boyfriend dropped out and works for the post office. My stepbrother who went there still lives in Dad's basement. Another friend married into a mob family and...at least got a pretty good divorce settlement.
Cardozo sent a large contingent of MC and UMC kids to Queensborough Community College every year, and not for financial reasons.
Oh, they Closed a few failed high schools in Jamaica and bus all the kids to Cardozo. The school is now rated a 5 and there is a whopping 10% Caucasian Student population. For 10 years prior, the school was Asian/Caucasian and highly rated. It’s garbage now. All for the sake of equity !!
Having now read a little more about each of the proposals (except for SHS, because that's not actually a thing.) I think what Boston is doing makes a lot of sense.
20% of seats at all three exam schools reserved for the top students citywide by grades and state test scores. Remaining seats by grades but allocated by ZIP codes, so that the schools reflect the population distribution of the city.
If you think that the top students in wealthy ZIP codes are legitimately smarter than the top students in poor ZIP codes, then you should ask yourself why and what that reveals about you.
@Anonymous Um, who is straw-manning whose argument here??
My statement was "If you think that the top students in wealthy ZIP codes are legitimately smarter than the top students in poor ZIP codes, then you should ask yourself why and what that reveals about you." You then said, "It's very easy to make the argument you seek", and then went on to make a different argument.
Anyway, you've proven my point--your beliefs on this subject do indeed reveal a lot about you. If you're happy with what it reveals, then may the force be with you, I guess.
It's not an ad hominem to say that your beliefs reveal things about you. That's a pretty basic and obvious idea. If you aren't proud of what you're displaying in your comments, maybe rethink your attitude.
If you are, then as I said, may the force be with you.
There is a whole group at Hunter trying to get rid of that test. Between that and the lame snowflake teachers, that school is headed into mediocracy, too.
@Anonymous The plan I've seen looks similar to Boston Latin.
The problem with getting rid of the Hunter test is that it works spectacularly well for the purpose it serves - finding kids who will be successful at Hunter. It's not at an IQ test, and it's far less prep-able than the SHSAT. Everyone knows kids who spent months in HCHS prep classes and weren't admitted- and plenty of super smart kids who weren't admitted, either. I don't think that kids who go to HCHS are necessarily the smartest kids in the city - they're (for the most part) a group of smart kids who do well at Hunter.
Back in the '80's, Hunter had a form of what they then called "affirmative action" - they lowered the cut-off score for kids who met certain criteria (SES, zip code). Problem was, those kids were usually ill-prepared for the program, and many of not most dropped out.
The DOE has not officially announced anything. I understood that legally nYC DOE cannot change admissions for Stuy, Bronx Science or Brooklyn tech as they are part of the Hecht-Calandra law which is controlled by NY state.
@MidtownMom The bills have gone nowhere. Because of state law, the City has to get a waiver for the state for this year to bypass the test, or have the bill pass. Cuomo or upstate legislators have no love for Deblasio/Carranza these days. It will be interesting to see what happens. I can only assume the test dates will be kicked down the road to Jan or Feb.
Imo, test is imperfect, but it's still the best screen, and it's meritocratic. Efforts to promote diversity must be done long before testing. Breaking the thermometer won't get the sick healthy (that's a Trump's strategy). Grades can be inflated or twisted, and they are, a lottery is incredibly unfair to the cream of the top students.
When it’s done via grades, it usually is based on percentiles so there is really no incentive for schools to inflate grades. IE: Top 2% GPA students at each NYC middle school get a choice of SHS.
I don't know about all the situations, but I read an article about the Boston situation, and this is untrue. Boston has suspended the exams for one year only; and it will not be a non-screened school. They will still screen using grades and state test scores.
@Anonymous Maybe they will, maybe they won't, but it is factually incorrect to state that the Boston exam schools, at the very least, have "become non-screened schools." Mass testing is not the only screening method available. (I just googled and it seems that TJHS is also adopting alternative grade-based screening, while Lowell is going lottery for this year only.)
By all means, we can discuss whether getting rid of the exams is a good step (either this year or permanently), but let's not start the discussion with misinformation.
It’s goodbye. The city is doing away with testing. Sad for kids and families. look what happened to Cardozo in Queens.
You cannot make this up: this happened during the Boston meeting that destroyed Boston Latin:
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/boston-school-committee-chair-resigns-after-being-accused-of-making-racist-remarks-during-meeting/2216331/
Having now read a little more about each of the proposals (except for SHS, because that's not actually a thing.) I think what Boston is doing makes a lot of sense.
20% of seats at all three exam schools reserved for the top students citywide by grades and state test scores. Remaining seats by grades but allocated by ZIP codes, so that the schools reflect the population distribution of the city.
If you think that the top students in wealthy ZIP codes are legitimately smarter than the top students in poor ZIP codes, then you should ask yourself why and what that reveals about you.
Did we leave the trolls at ub? Drama much? Do you have a time machine?
There is a whole group at Hunter trying to get rid of that test. Between that and the lame snowflake teachers, that school is headed into mediocracy, too.
The DOE has not officially announced anything. I understood that legally nYC DOE cannot change admissions for Stuy, Bronx Science or Brooklyn tech as they are part of the Hecht-Calandra law which is controlled by NY state.
Imo, test is imperfect, but it's still the best screen, and it's meritocratic. Efforts to promote diversity must be done long before testing. Breaking the thermometer won't get the sick healthy (that's a Trump's strategy). Grades can be inflated or twisted, and they are, a lottery is incredibly unfair to the cream of the top students.
I don't know about all the situations, but I read an article about the Boston situation, and this is untrue. Boston has suspended the exams for one year only; and it will not be a non-screened school. They will still screen using grades and state test scores.