Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse in New York City, home of the nation’s largest school system, outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the elimination of the Gifted and Talented program (“NYC will phase out Gifted and Talented program,” New York Daily News, Oct. 8). The move will no doubt drive many parents to enroll their children in private and religious schools, where such programs still exist.
When it comes to education, de Blasio has been the city’s worst major. He began by selecting Richard Carranza as chancellor, who promptly made it clear that whatever quality was left in the behemoth system would be eliminated in the name of equity. Then de Blasio slowly began to undermine whatever confidence parents had by his assault on high-achieving students.
New York City continues to get exactly what it deserves when it comes to education. Any substantive changes, such as eliminating social promotion and closing persistently failing schools as Mayor Bloomberg tried to do, are resisted.
(To post a comment, click on the title of this blog.)