NYCAN’s ‘2013 State of New York Public Education’ report is a visual guide to our school system, packed with information we know you can use. This report tells a story, one with encouraging highs and disturbing lows.
While New York spends almost double the national average on schools per pupil, that money hasn’t bought our kids the education they deserve. Only 60 percent of New York’s eighth-grade students are proficient in math, and just half are proficient in English-language arts. Unbundle these numbers and you’ll find startling achievement gaps: black and Latino students trail their white peers by more than 20 percentage points in both fundamental subjects.
And these gaps persist. Fewer than 65 percent of our black and Latino students are graduating from high school on time. Among English-language learners, the graduation rate is an abysmal 46 percent. Believe it or not, as of 2010, New York is home to more “dropout factories” than Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.
You’ll find these facts, and others, as you flip through our report. But don’t stop there. Our kids need you to engage your community around this report, share it with your lawmakers and discuss it with your Parent Teacher Association. After all, having information is only the first step. We must use it, too.
