By Walter E. Williams |
TOWNHALL.com
New
York Mayor Bill de Blasio says that the city's specialized high schools have a
diversity problem. He's joined by New York City Schools Chancellor Richard A.
Carranza, educators, students and community leaders who want to fix the
diversity problem.
If you guessed they would propose eliminating the
Specialized High Schools Admissions Test as the sole criterion for admissions,
go to the head of the class.
The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test is an
examination that is administered to New York City's eighth- and ninth-grade
students. By state law, it is used to determine admission to all but one of the
city's nine specialized high schools.
It's taken as axiomatic that the relatively few blacks admitted to these high-powered schools is somehow tied to racial discrimination.
It's taken as axiomatic that the relatively few blacks admitted to these high-powered schools is somehow tied to racial discrimination.
In a June 2, 2018 "Chalkbeat" article, de
Blasio writes: "The problem is clear. Eight of our most renowned high
schools -- including Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science and
Brooklyn Technical High School -- rely on a single, high-stakes exam. The
Specialized High School Admissions Test isn't just flawed -- it's a roadblock
to justice, progress and academic excellence."
Let's look at a bit of history to raise some questions about the mayor's diversity hypothesis.
Let's look at a bit of history to raise some questions about the mayor's diversity hypothesis.
Dr. Thomas Sowell provides some interesting
statistics about Stuyvesant High School in his book "Wealth, Poverty and
Politics."
He reports that, "In 1938, the
proportion of blacks attending Stuyvesant High School, a specialized school,
was almost as high as the proportion of blacks in the population of New York
City."
Since then, it has spiraled downward.
In 1979, blacks
were 12.9% of students at Stuyvesant, falling to 4.8% in 1995.
By 2012, The New
York Times reported that blacks were 1.2% of the student body.
What explains the decline?
What explains the decline?
In other words, would one want to argue that
there was less racial discrimination in 1938?
Or, argue that in 1938 the "legacy of slavery"
had not taken effect whereby now it is in full bloom?
Genetic or environmental arguments cannot explain why
blacks of an earlier generation were able to meet the demanding mental test
standards to get into an elite high school.
Socioeconomic conditions for blacks have improved
dramatically since 1938.
The only other plausible reason for the decline
in academic achievement is that there has been a change in black culture. It
doesn't take much to reach this conclusion. Simply look at school behavior
today versus yesteryear.
An Education Week article reported that in the 2015-16 school year, "5.8% of the nation's 3.8 million teachers were physically attacked by a student."
An Education Week article reported that in the 2015-16 school year, "5.8% of the nation's 3.8 million teachers were physically attacked by a student."
Nationally, an average of 1,175 teachers and staff were
physically attacked, including being knocked out, each day of that school year.
In the city of Baltimore, each school day in 2010, an average of four teachers and staff were assaulted.
In the city of Baltimore, each school day in 2010, an average of four teachers and staff were assaulted.
A National Center for Education Statistics study found
that 18% of the nation's schools accounted for 75% of the reported incidents of
violence, and 6.6% accounted for half of all reported incidents.
These are schools with predominantly black
student populations.
It's not only assaults on teachers but cursing and
disorderly conduct that are the standard fare in so many predominantly black
schools.
Here are questions that might be asked of de Blasio and others who want to "fix the diversity problem" at New York's specialized schools:
Here are questions that might be asked of de Blasio and others who want to "fix the diversity problem" at New York's specialized schools:
What has the triumph of egalitarian and
diversity principles done for the rest of New York's school system?
Are their academic achievement scores better
than students at New York's specialized schools?
The most important question for
black parents: What has been allowed to happen to cripple black academic
excellence?
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.
