New York City is rife with underperforming schools, including nearly two-thirds of students missing state standards
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, March 14, 2015, 9:00 PM
Singe mom Erica Medina has struggled to find a good school for her son Xavier Gomez, 8.
The numbers are shocking, depressing and damning.
So read them and weep: Just 29% of students in the nation’s largest public school system scored at the appropriate grade level on state reading tests.
Or do the quick calculation: Only one in three city students meets state standards in math.
A Daily News analysis indicates New York City is rife with underperforming schools, at least according to the standardized tests used by the state.
The situation is particularly tough in poor sections of Brooklyn and the Bronx, where stats show schools that turn out tens of thousands of unprepared students.
How bad is the crisis? Nearly 284,000 kids attended public schools last year where less than one student in five could read at their own grade level.
City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña says that something must be done.
“The status quo is unacceptable,” said the veteran educator. “Our schools must be a place where students feel safe, supported, and engaged in learning – no matter their zip code or the challenges they may face at home.”
But those tough words may offer little comfort to thousands of families who see few good options for public schools.
In 2014, three city schools had not a single third-grader pass the state math test. More incredibly, 11 schools citywide did not pass a single third-grader in reading.
The situation is particularly dire for black and Hispanic kids, who make up the overwhelming majority in city schools with the worst state scores. Those kids face a similar achievement gap in high school graduation rates.
At another 89 schools with more diverse student bodies, no black or Hispanic students passed the standardized tests in 2014, according to the pro-charter-school group Families for Excellent Schools.
Critics say the tests are too hard and fail to accurately measure student progress. Test scores dropped dramatically in 2013 with the implementation of controversial Common Core standards.
Single mom Erica Medina said academics are only part of the problem for kids who see classrooms as prisons instead of the passage to a better tomorrow.
Her own special-needs son Xavier Gomez, 8, is already in his second school after a teacher at notorious Public School 194 in Harlem allegedly tossed the boy down a staircase.
The boy missed a month of school, leading to a decision to make Xavier repeat the second grade. It was a major setback for the chubby-faced child, who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities.
“PS 194 destroyed his whole outlook on school, took that whole experience of enjoying school away,” his mother said.
The 2013 stair-toss was preceded a month earlier at the school by an attack in which a first-grader was stabbed with a pencil, and a year earlier by a sexual assault on a third-grade student.
The teacher who allegedly threw Xavier down the stairs received only a letter in his file for using bad judgement and still has his job — despite having been found guilty of corporal punishment and verbal abuse in three separate incidents dating back to 2004.
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Single mom Erica Medina's son Xavier Gomez, 8, is already in his second school after a teacher at notorious Public School 194 in Harlem allegedly tossed the boy down a staircase.
But Xavier was too upset to stay in his school, so Medina found her boy a safer haven at PS 123, the school right behind their home in a city housing project in Central Harlem.
Medina said the new location was hardly ideal. At PS 123, the violence is accompanied by nightmarish schooling numbers: Just 6% of the students passed last year’s state reading exams.
“There’s teenagers constantly fighting, bullying,” said Medina. “There’s been times when they’ve shut the school down when students walk in with weapons. There’s more school safety officers every day.
“They’re not on top of these kids. They’re just there. This school and PS 194, I think, are completely unsafe schools.”
At Brownsville Collaborative Middle School in Brooklyn, just one of 106 kids passed the 2014 reading exams. The blocklong building, despite its bright yellow exterior, suffers from an institutional look with its screened windows and tiny playground.
Seventh-grader Roshanna Gainyard, 12, says chaos often trumps education in the classrooms.
“It’s really hard for those who want to learn,” Roshanna said. “A lot of times there are kids who want to yell and run around, and they start yelling at the teacher. They’re not nice to the rest of the class. It causes problems.”
CHRISTIE M FARRIELLA/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSBrownsville Collaborative Middle School located at 95 Watkins Street in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Wednesday February 25th 2015.
Nichole Williams, the mother of a 13-year-old student at Brownsville, said the disruptive kids are the legacy of poor parenting.
“The problem is too many parents treat this like a baby-sitting service,” Williams said. “They want to dump the kids there and be happy they are out of the house. It’s not the school’s fault if your kid isn’t a genius. That starts at home.”
Both students and parents said Principal Stacey Walsh and the teachers were doing their best under difficult conditions.
“My teachers are really nice and they try hard to help us succeed,” said Sky Fields, Williams’ daughter. “I really like the principal. She’s a hard worker.”
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The situation is particularly dire for black and Hispanic kids, who make up the overwhelming majority in city schools with the worst state scores. Pictured are (left to right) Naya Ward,12, Niyah Littlepage,12, Jané Green,12 and Jahyel Smith,12. They are students from MS 53 in Far Rockaway, Queens.
Fields particularly likes the principal’s motivational speeches dealing with life lessons.
At Middle School 53 in Far Rockaway, Queens, just 10 of 363 kids passed the state math test — but parents and students remain optimistic despite the deeply discouraging scores.
“I didn’t know that we didn’t do well on the test, but I think we can improve it, right?” said student Naya Ward, 12. “We can do better.”
With Sarah Ryley
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