Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

My daughter reads NYC blogs that cover public education and shares especially insightful posts with me. Earlier this week she emailed a link to this post by a NYC high school senior titled “NYC Teen Says: Those Who Benefit Most from the School System are Those Who are Lucky Enough Not To Need It”.  The premise of the article is that a close examination of the way NYC schools operate indicates that young men and women like him, who are fortunate enough to be born into affluent and well educated families receive disproportionate benefits to those less fortunate… and during the pandemic those benefits were magnified. This paragraph from the article describes this phenomenon:

One factor that makes advanced classes so much more effective for my and other students’ learning is that schools preemptively filter out any students judged “unprepared”. Many have been purged from my path by forces beyond my – and their – control (admissions officers, scheduling algorithms, The Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council), not only clearing the highway for me, but paving a personal exit, as well. Those who have been pushed out of my way are those who weren’t taught to navigate this highway as well I was. They are doomed to drive on. They missed the exit that I used, but it’s not their fault; I was given a more accurate map. I was given options which prevented me from being reliant on continued standard schooling.

It is a remarkably thought provoking article on the way the sorting and selection algorithms (i.e. The Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council) favor the affluent and provide them with the tools to learn independently while shunting others to the side. A good read for the new year!