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80% of NYC High School Graduates Can't Read
Breitbart's Big Government ^ | March 7, 2013 | Ben Shapiro

Posted on 03/08/2013 3:07:05 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

In his last State of the City address, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg bragged about his huge taxpayer investments in education. “Now, let me ask you: is there anyone who still believes that New York City can’t get big things done? Since we’re here in Brooklyn, I’ll say it again: Fuhgeddaboudit.”

Bloomberg was right about one thing only: forgetting about it. Because not only are big things not getting done in New York City on education, even small things aren’t getting done. According to officials from City University of New York, a full 80 percent of high school graduates in New York City can’t read when they graduate. As CBS Local reports, “They had to re-learn basic skills – reading, writing, and math – first before they could begin college courses.”

And that’s for the students who graduate. New York City has the lowest graduation rate for black and Hispanic male students in the nation, with only 37 percent graduating. But teachers start off making $45,530 with benefits, and max out at over $100,000....

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Education; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: bloomberg; illiteracy; newyork; nyc
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To: YourAdHere
They can’t read, but they do know that global warming is killing us all and that gay marriage is a constitutional right.

And vote for the "D" candidate. Early and often.

21 posted on 03/08/2013 4:54:22 AM PST by CPOSharky (zero slogan: Expect less, pay more. (apologies to Target))
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To: annelizly

Eighty per cent of the New York City high school students can probably puzzle out, “WHERE U @?”, but would not be able to make sense of a newspaper editorial, or write anything longer than 140 characters. They probably would not be able to form an opinion unless someone gave it them in rhyme.


22 posted on 03/08/2013 5:07:02 AM PST by jmcenanly ("The more corrupt the state, the more laws." Tacitus, Publius Cornelius)
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To: blam

At the time of the American Revolution, public schooling was rudimentary and 95% of white Americans could read.


23 posted on 03/08/2013 5:07:48 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (What word begins with "O" and ends in economic collapse?)
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas

I like the term Schulag, kinda a portmanteau word of German Schul and Stalag, that invokes the idea of a gulag.


24 posted on 03/08/2013 5:14:32 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (What word begins with "O" and ends in economic collapse?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
80% of NYC High School Graduates Can't Read

Judging from their election results, nearly 100% can't think.

25 posted on 03/08/2013 5:19:06 AM PST by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Rempublicam)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This proves right here that the Teachers Unions needs to be dissolved. But if the union stays, Tenure MUST go.


26 posted on 03/08/2013 5:33:45 AM PST by Eric Roelfsema
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Related...

http://exposingtheleft.blogspot.com/2013/03/officials-80-percent-of-recent-nyc-high.html


27 posted on 03/08/2013 6:05:20 AM PST by traderrob6
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My first thought is— Why are they in “community college?” I imagine it’s to keep them off the streets. No one will hire them at $8 an hour minimum wage. Get rid of the minimum wage and many would be able to get entry level jobs where they might be motivated to learn something.


28 posted on 03/08/2013 6:10:02 AM PST by capt B
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To: annelizly

Wot du u no abt txtin’?


29 posted on 03/08/2013 7:09:25 AM PST by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

So, we should mandate talking nutrition info menus at NYC fast food places?


30 posted on 03/08/2013 7:59:23 AM PST by SoothingDave
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To: blam
43% of all residents of the cities of Detroit Which is one of the many reasons why employers don't relocate to Michigan. An illiterate workforce is not desirable.
31 posted on 03/08/2013 8:03:04 AM PST by Mountain Bike Vomit Carnage (Bring back King George III, all he tried to tax was the tea.)
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To: SoothingDave

And have answering machine at schools deliver this message...

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Pwghabw4N80?rel=0


32 posted on 03/08/2013 8:08:04 AM PST by IM2MAD (IM2MAD=Individual Motivated 2 Make A Difference)
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To: traderrob6; All
NYC has many superb high schools, ranked in the top 10 in the entire country..Bx Science, Bklyn Tech..Music & Art, and many more that require a rigorous admissions test..so the likelihood is that in some, regular, neighborhood HSs..the % that can't functionally read is 99%.

This all goes back to the great liberal idea of guaranteeing that ANY HS grad in NYC gets into CCNY.. City College long ago was one of the greatest academic institutions int he country. It's produced more PhDs than any other university..now, it's the absolute pits..along with all the other so-called community colleges.

Gets get promoted through HS..no accountability for the teachers..they can't get a job..so off they go to community college, where they are taught middle school reading and writing skills.

33 posted on 03/08/2013 8:08:35 AM PST by ken5050 ("One useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, three or more are a Congress".. John Adams)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

We are more than halfway to Idiocracy.


34 posted on 03/08/2013 2:23:29 PM PST by Liberty Wins
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To: Liberty Wins

Wasn’t Idiocracy a documentary?


35 posted on 03/08/2013 2:28:22 PM PST by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: hal ogen

My favorite scene was where his lawyer said he got his law degree from Costco Law School.


36 posted on 03/08/2013 2:32:33 PM PST by Liberty Wins
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To: pepsionice

Pretty sad...my first grader reads at a 5th grade level (tested) and if the truth be known, actually much higher....

We have read to her every night since she was born....

Now she reads us a couple of chapters every night before she tucks in....

She’s only 6.....

Although she is in private school, it’s the parents that make the difference...


37 posted on 03/08/2013 4:31:11 PM PST by nevergore ("It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I'm a new teacher (mature career changer) in a parochial high school. My colleagues with decades of experience are all pretty dismayed at the decline in basic skills among our incoming students. Unfortunately, by the time they're in high school, we face the choice of failing a large percentage of them or helping them pass by essentially lowering our expectations. They've been socially promoted for years. Many of them are very weak readers, and math skills are enough to make me cry. These are average teenagers in a suburb. The inner city kids I taught last fall were in far worse shape.

I wish I could point to one thing that is to blame, but I think it's the result of many changes and problems in society and in education. Kids (and adults) are not held accountable for their behavior or their learning. They are shocked when we hold them to standards, but many of us are doing our best to hold the line. It's tough to teach to a reasonable standard while helping kids who are way below grade level in their basic skills. There is a gap that few educational leaders are willing to really address. We pretend to address it by offering differentiated education, in which classrooms are filled with children of varying abilities and teachers are expected to adapt lessons to fit the needs of each child. It's a recipe for exhaustion, and doesn't work as well as the theory would suggest. You can't move a class much faster than the slower learners. It hurts the bright kids most.

Another of the educational theories that I wrestle with is that of small group work. My students usually respond well to working in small teams, and they have good social skills. They are efficient in producing a work product, such as a project. I think that in many cases, this kind of work is well suited to preparing them to hold jobs where they will need to work in teams. Unfortunately, it can also undermine deep learning of content. They can produce work, but they don't necessarily master content in the process. Students are so accustomed to working in teams that the thought of doing their own homework is a foreign notion. At some point each student needs to engage individually in order to learn basic skills and content. I am concerned that these pedagogical methods undermine this kind of focused individual work. Time and again I find students turn in homework that suggests understanding and then fail tests based on the same work. They don't dig deeply enough to understand beyond a superficial level. Even many of my AP students have this pattern. Very frustrating and very concerning.

38 posted on 03/08/2013 4:51:34 PM PST by Think free or die
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To: Think free or die

Thanks for that most interesting post.

When I read these horror stories I give thanks for being taught by dedicated, competent teachers in the 1940s and 1950s.

It must be hell to be in an elementary, high school or college classroom today.


39 posted on 03/08/2013 5:57:18 PM PST by OldPossum
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