THE CULT OF MEDIOCRITY DOING WHAT IT DOES BEST . . . CUTTING DOWN THE TALL POPPIES: “NYC’s gifted and talented program to be eliminated, de Blasio says.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio is phasing out New York City’s Gifted and Talented program, he announced Friday — bowing to critics who complain that the coveted model is racist.
Current students in the program will be able to stay in accelerated-learning classes to completion. But new cohorts they will be completely eliminated by fall 2022, ending the current testing for 4-year-old city kids.
The kids hurt by de Blasio’s decision will no doubt be first and second generation immigrant kids (e.g., Chinese and Indian-Pakistani) from low income homes. The upper-middle-class white parents who support abolishing programs for gifted (lower-income) students don’t have to worry about their kids because they send them to elite private schools. This really about the Ruling Class protecting its privileged position.
More on this: “New York City Has Run Out of ‘Gifted and Talented’ Students.”
New York City will phase out its programs for gifted and talented primary-grade students in the name of “equality,” reports the New York Times. The group of kindergarten students currently enrolled in the special programs will be the last to be offered the accelerated learning courses.
The reason? Not enough black and Hispanic students are able to qualify for the program. So rather than offer accelerated learning to anyone who can qualify, the city is catering to the lowest common denominator.
It’s easy to blame race for the discrepancy. The tests are “biased,” we’re told. “Systemic racism” is a huge disadvantage for these children of color. Better to punish excellence by denying kids this opportunity — regardless of race — rather than highlight the absolute failure of New York City schools to educate all their children.