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Here's what you forgot about in your whining above. "Using the grueling two-hour test as the only basis for admissions creates a “rich-get-richer phenomenon,” because wealthy parents can afford expensive test preparations for their children, he said in a wide-ranging interview with the Daily News Editorial Board."
When you make a thread, you should at least show the other side's argument. The mayor does have a point. An expensive course from Kaplan, etc, makes a huge difference in the aggregate scores. Poor families can't afford it and thus it's quite likely that the best students aren't the ones that get in. Just the ones who can afford the most test prep.
And, as stated above, there are programs offered to the poor for test preparation at no cost.
One test cannot in any universe measure how capable a person is or possibly can be. If we went with single test measure of who will attend the best schools and get the best jobs, we would be a nation of bland cowards. Some pencil neck twit leading our military, law enforcement, Arts programs? As a nation we would soon be relegated to the significance of Bangladesh.
I would rather have a person who grew up living a more comprehensive existence leading me than some billygoat who did noting but study for a test and who's parents never even took them to a movie growing up. How the hell would someone like that be able to relate to regular people?
Other than that, the well rounded kids who get in are 9 times out of 10 from a wealthy family who where capable of affording tutors and test prep programs for their little ninny's.
You can equate this whole situation to race, but in reality it is a loaded meritocracy.
I think the new mayor is more concerned with his own children, rather than what is actually right.
The standardized tests measure what children should know, comprehend and be able to apply at that point of their school level (math, reading, writing, etc.).
The hell with after school sports and program participation...that does not apply on a real life job to a great extent. Maybe it teaches something about team work (but also about forming exclusionary cliques).
What is important in real life work situations are reading, writing, math and science (all that can be applied to technology, engineering and international trade). In my 30 years in business, I never heard of anyone being interested in someone else's after school activities...Perhaps a brief mention of it if they went to the same schools...but it never closed a deal or completed a project.
Behold the capitalist mantra.
Keep pushing this agenda and every important job out there will become automated.
That's just what we need. Brilliant.......
One test cannot in any universe measure how capable a person is or possibly can be. If we went with single test measure of who will attend the best schools and get the best jobs, we would be a nation of bland cowards. Some pencil neck twit leading our military, law enforcement, Arts programs? As a nation we would soon be relegated to the significance of Bangladesh.
I would rather have a person who grew up living a more comprehensive existence leading me than some billygoat who did noting but study for a test and who's parents never even took them to a movie growing up. How the hell would someone like that be able to relate to regular people?
Other than that, the well rounded kids who get in are 9 times out of 10 from a wealthy family who where capable of affording tutors and test prep programs for their little ninny's.
You can equate this whole situation to race, but in reality it is a loaded meritocracy.
This is NYC. The wealthy send their kids to private school.
I think the new mayor is more concerned with his own children, rather than what is actually right.
The standardized tests measure what children should know, comprehend and be able to apply at that point of their school level (math, reading, writing, etc.).
Agreed! When I was in school, we had to take standardized tests every year, and the results of those tests was what determined whether we were accepted into honors or advanced-placement courses (or not). I certainly didn't come from a privileged background, and yet I always did well on those tests. If I could do it, why can't others do the same?
Seems like NYC's new mayor wants to undermine such a system, all in the name of political correctness.
Bill de Blasio vowed Wednesday to overhaul how children are chosen for New York City’s elite public high schools, saying the high-stakes admissions test should no longer be the only factor in the selection process.
Tackling an emotional issue for parents and schoolchildren across the city, the Democratic mayoral nominee blamed the reliance on the test for creating schools that he said did not reflect the city’s diversity.
Failed premiss. Before I answer your incorrect premiss, we have to acknowledge a fact.
Fact- at this moment, kids of all racial/ethinic makeup...including many white and Asian kids are not accepted to these elite schools. Let me say that again so we understand each other. White and Asian kids did not make the cut to be accepted to these schools.
Now, to say that White and Asian kids would be kicked out, means students would be asked to leave the program in order to make room for less qualified students. The Mayor is saying in the future all applicants will be chosen to attend based ...on grades and other factors.
He wants these schools to reflect the demographics of the city.
60% of the city is minority and he wants these schools to be 60% minority students.
Now how he accomplishes that is yet to be seen.
I'm sure he will have a more well thought out plan than a percent for percent quota.
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