Catching a photographer’s eye, a youngster in the West Village, in front
of 381 Hudson St., at W. Houston St., on Nov. 30, 1933, wore a generous
amount of lipstick. The shop window in the background shows a sign for the
National Recovery Administration with its Blue Eagle symbol. The N.R.A.
was a New Deal agency started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in June
1933 to reform business and labor regulations.
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Editorial
Don’t cut Gifted programs
For decades, the Gifted and Talented program has given some of the sharpest
young minds in the New York City public school system a chance to challenge
themselves, hone their skills and cultivate their minds to their fullest potential.
But if a group of education reformers whispering in the ears of Mayor Bill de
Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza have their way, the Gifted and
Talented program will soon be a thing of the past.
The School Diversity Advisory Group recommended last month that the Department
of Education dismiss the program in the name of equality. They claim
that the screening system in place disproportionately leaves out students of color,
and contributes to segregation in the nation’s largest public school system.
But the group’s assertion that the Gifted and Talented program, by itself, is
the cause of segregation is a deeply fl awed argument. It’s also the same argument
made by those seeking to eliminate entrance exams for the city’s specialized high
schools, for the very same reason: a lack of equality and opportunity for all.
Make no mistake, there is a troubling lack of equality and opportunity in New
York City public school education. A shameful segregation indeed persists to this
day in classrooms across one of the most progressive cities in America.
But specialized education programs or standardized tests are not to blame for
this condition. Rather, decades of failed education policy in New York City have
left behind public school students across the city.
Simply put, this city has not invested enough in its future. It has not provided
enough resources to public schools in every corner of every borough for them to
operate at their optimum level. The city has not provided enough in the way of
after-school educational programs and free tutoring for students to achieve high
marks and qualify for specialized schools or the Gifted and Talented program.
To turn things around and truly open up opportunity for all public school students,
we need to invest in them. That costs billions of our taxpayer dollars, of
course, and requires a steady amount of work to ensure that everything goes according
to plan. In short, it’s hard work. But it’s the right thing to do.
Getting rid of programs such as Gifted and Talented risks creating a tremendous
brain drain in New York. If the city cannot help its sharpest young minds
reach their full potential, these students’ abilities will wither away from boredom
and neglect. Likewise, if the city won’t solve its segregation problem by investing
in better schools, better teachers and better programs for all its students, it should
expect more of the same, regardless of reforms made.
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