Some New York City School stats:
* Asian Students represent only 15 percent of city students
* Asian students, including those from China, Korea, India and Pakistan, already account for upwards of 60 percent of the population at top high schools, such as Stuyvesant and Bronx Science. The pattern continues with the latest test results.
* Asians were 26 percent of the 28,211 students who qualified to take the 2011 competitive high-schools exam.
* Asians were 47 percent of those scoring well enough to get accepted.
* Non-Hispanic whites were 15 percent of test takers,
* Non-Hispanic white were 23 percent of those accepted.
* Blacks were 23 percent of test takers
* Blacks were 5 percent of those accepted.
* Hispanics were 21 percent of test takers
* Hispanics were 6 percent of those accepted.
* New York City doesn’t know the race and ethnicity of 18 percent of those accepted.
It is the parents. Asian families often have two, and they expect and encourage academic success from their children.
Asian kids in NYC schools are for the most part the children of people who were smart enough, brave enough, and determined enough to come to a new country and work fiercely hard for success. They know how fortunate they are to be here because they’ve seen how much worse things are back home; they harbor no resentments about the system mistreating them. They impart these values to their children and make them work hard. This pattern is common among immigrants and their children. I know; I’m the daughter of an immigrant.
Compare and contrast with the situation of inner-city minority kids in this country. Who are their role models? Who is going to be able to motivate them and help them with their homework?
Don’t get me wrong: there are a lot of really involved, determined minority parents who are poor but are trying hard to help their kids succeed.