Posted on 09/22/2026 4:21:32 PM PDT by grundle
Nikole Hannah-Jones recently wrote the following in the New York Times:
Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html
Archive: https://archive.ph/yXJHf
In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?
A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.
By Nikole Hannah-Jones
September 20, 2026
“Did you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?” she asked.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel as I worked to keep my face neutral, buying a few moments to gather my thoughts.
By dismissal time, Najya’s shock had turned to boiling, and the seatbelt had barely clicked before she was confronting me.
I had braced myself for this moment, spent nearly a decade expecting it, preparing for it. When Najya was entering pre-K, my husband, Faraji, and I decided to send her to the type of school that wealthier families with choices uniformly avoid — one that is low-income and mostly Black.
Faraji and I felt an obligation to make educational decisions based on the collective good and not just our individual advantage… Faraji and I decided that our role in this struggle meant upending the status quo and sending our child not to a wealthy white school but to a poor Black one.
We thought by sending Najya to a mostly low-income and Black school, we could help improve it for all the children there.
… my child just shook her head, her face a mask of disbelief, and something else: betrayal.
“So you had money to send me to one of the best schools, and you chose not to?” she said, hurling her words. “Because other kids are disadvantaged, you didn’t want to put me in a great school?”
In the same essay, she also refers to that horrible school as “Public School 307.”
I was curious to see how much money that particular public school spends per student, per year, so I looked it up.
The amount is $52,349.
I got that information from this source on September 22, 2026:
https://www.districtfacts.com/ny/school/ps-307-daniel-hale-williams/
Since I couldn’t find an archived version of that website, and because that information changes every year, I took this screenshot of it on September 22, 2026:
So the horrible public school that New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones chose to send her own daughter to spends $52,349 per student per year.
As I’ve said many times before, I’ve always thought that more schools should copy the hugely successful policies of Maria Montessori and Marva Collins.
But for whatever reason, the people in charge of running the public schools don’t want to do that.
And the liberals who claim to care about education for low income children keep insisting that these horrible public schools are underfunded.
Since liberals think public schools are underfunded, I’m publicly asking them to please cite a specific number that they do think is enough.
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Yes, you did betray your child.
You crippled your child economically, for life, as a result.
When they put out the amount spent per student, they never mention how much goes to teacher’s salary and benefits (including gold-plated health insurance and pension).
Her husband is a beta male cuck loser.
A real man would not stand for anything this stupid.
L
I honestly find the whole story a little suspect. Before too long, this story will be the nucleus for a new crusade to increase school funding. Because, just like homelessness, throwing $$$ at the problem will fix it. Right???
Sure, but why did Najya flunk ‘sex change preparation’ class?
“...I’m asking them to please cite a specific number that they do think is enough.”
How much you got?
I agree with you that they are trying to create a narrative.
However, by sending her child to an underperforming school, she did hamper her child’s opportunities in life for life.
But she wouldn't be able to play the race victim card, which is her most important concern.
https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics
-Per pupil public K-12 spending averaged $16,526 in FY 2023.
-K-12 public schools spent $981.57 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2024.
-American spending on public education represents 12.7% of all public spending.
-U.S. public education spending represents 1.12% of its GDP.
-The federal government provides 12.7% of funding for public K-12 education.
District of Columbia K-12 schools spend the most per student ($31,629 in FY 2023) while Idaho spends the least ($10,247).
The school under discussion....... for “needy” students......spends $52,349 per student.
AI says NY public schools....... aimed at the general public...... spend $44,000 per student,.
Broader New York State schools average around $36,293 per pupil.
However, by sending her child to an underperforming school, she did hamper her child’s opportunities in life for life.
In all seriousness, I expect that if public school funding were cut by literally 99% the result would be a RISE in test scores. In those circumstances they’d have only a couple unpaid interns teaching kids with whatever basic materials they could scavenge for free, and without all the distractions and nonsense, the kids might actually learn something.
Dirty little secret: A good student will learn even in a one room school house with outdated books. Just give them access to materials and they will soak it up. A bad student will not learn even if given the best teachers and school facilities.
The teacher is more like a guide. They can lead a horse to water, but can’t make it drink.
If the facts are correct, she did as I say she did.
Underperforming schools will hamper your opportunities by not preparing you properly. The biggest reason why first year universities students drop out is because they weren’t ready for the course load.
I agree with you that there is an agenda here as well.
And we found these "exercise bands" lying around the apartment and decided to use them on the kid's neck...
Kinda like “Unsafe at any Speed”
No good at any price?
How would you like to have a contract to educate children for that price per head per year?
This country is busted and will never get any better. Nothing works right.
Most of that money is wasted on programs that no one asked for, that don’t work, and that are abandoned 2-3 years later and end up in a storage room.
“$52,349 per student per year”
That’s insane. You could hire a full time tutor for much lass than that. And that school had a class size of only 9? And they still underperformed.
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