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Black & Hispanic students get fewer advanced classes and science labs at city high schools
An analysis of Education Department data from the 2011-12 school year found that on average, white and Asian students attend high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses and almost twice as many science labs as schools attended by black and Hispanic students. An Education Department spokeswoman says the report is 'extremely misleading.'
Black and Hispanic students are getting stiffed — from science labs to libraries — when it comes to resources at city high schools, according to an analysis of Education Department data.
On average, white and Asian students attend high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses and almost twice as many science labs compared with schools attended by black and Hispanic students, according to figures from the 2011-12 school year, the most recent available.
Black and Hispanic students also have fewer science subjects available in their high schools and fewer arts classes and rooms, the report by the Independent Budget Office says. They’re also less likely to have a library, medical office or gym in their school buildings.
Education officials said the city is working hard to address disparities in the public schools.
The report found that on average, white and Asian students attended city high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses as schools attended by black and Hispanic students.
Patrick Semansky/AP
The report found that on average, white and Asian students attended city high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses as schools attended by black and Hispanic students.
Advocates emphasized that unequal resources set some kids up for failure.
“It’s alarming and it’s frustrating,” said Zakiyah Ansari, advocacy director at the Alliance for Quality Education, an activist group that requested the budget office report. “Most kids in the city are black or Latino, but there’s a lot less for them. It’s not fair.”
The city has long struggled to shrink the achievement gap faced by black and Hispanic kids on measures of student performance, including state math and reading exams and high school graduation rates.
Just 15.3% of black kids and 18.6% of Hispanic kids in the city system passed state math tests in 2013, compared with 50.1% of white kids and 61.4% of Asian kids.
Education officials ripped the budget office analysis, noting that participation in AP classes, for which students can receive college credit, has increased across all racial and ethnic groups since 2003.
“This report is extremely misleading,” said Education Department spokeswoman Erin Hughes. “It fails to account for the other college preparatory courses besides AP that are offered and taken by nearly 27,000 students across the city.”
Hughes also said 57% of the students who participate in the city’s College Now programs, which offer college prep and college-credit courses, are black or Hispanic.
An analysis of Education Department data from the 2011-12 school year found that on average, white and Asian students attend high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses and almost twice as many science labs as schools attended by black and Hispanic students. An Education Department spokeswoman says the report is 'extremely misleading.'
Black and Hispanic students are getting stiffed — from science labs to libraries — when it comes to resources at city high schools, according to an analysis of Education Department data.
On average, white and Asian students attend high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses and almost twice as many science labs compared with schools attended by black and Hispanic students, according to figures from the 2011-12 school year, the most recent available.
Black and Hispanic students also have fewer science subjects available in their high schools and fewer arts classes and rooms, the report by the Independent Budget Office says. They’re also less likely to have a library, medical office or gym in their school buildings.
Education officials said the city is working hard to address disparities in the public schools.
The report found that on average, white and Asian students attended city high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses as schools attended by black and Hispanic students.
Patrick Semansky/AP
The report found that on average, white and Asian students attended city high schools with twice as many Advanced Placement courses as schools attended by black and Hispanic students.
Advocates emphasized that unequal resources set some kids up for failure.
“It’s alarming and it’s frustrating,” said Zakiyah Ansari, advocacy director at the Alliance for Quality Education, an activist group that requested the budget office report. “Most kids in the city are black or Latino, but there’s a lot less for them. It’s not fair.”
The city has long struggled to shrink the achievement gap faced by black and Hispanic kids on measures of student performance, including state math and reading exams and high school graduation rates.
Just 15.3% of black kids and 18.6% of Hispanic kids in the city system passed state math tests in 2013, compared with 50.1% of white kids and 61.4% of Asian kids.
Education officials ripped the budget office analysis, noting that participation in AP classes, for which students can receive college credit, has increased across all racial and ethnic groups since 2003.
“This report is extremely misleading,” said Education Department spokeswoman Erin Hughes. “It fails to account for the other college preparatory courses besides AP that are offered and taken by nearly 27,000 students across the city.”
Hughes also said 57% of the students who participate in the city’s College Now programs, which offer college prep and college-credit courses, are black or Hispanic.
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