Chancellor Cites Favoritism at a New York School
“In my view, public schools do not interview family members for admission to public schools, period,” Mr. Klein said in an interview yesterday. “It turns out they were doing it.”
Officials at the Department of Education said that the school’s prior practices could not be defended and made available a supervisor’s report on the admissions process to prove their point. The report said that the school’s offers of acceptance were “in clear violation” of its obligation to accept students in “rank order” based on factors like test results and observed activities.
The officials said the focus on parents was only part of what was wrong with the process. They also said the school improperly screened out some kindergarten applicants instantly based on preschool reports, without allowing them through the normal testing and interview process. They also found that in some cases, the applications of rejected children noted that they had special needs.
“Student has serious health concerns — not a match” read a comment pertaining to one rejected applicant with a score of 61, higher than a number of children who got offers.
Of the 211 applications reviewed, the very top scorers were admitted and the very lowest were not. The discrepancies occurred among the bulk of those ranked in the middle.
With its exceptional students, multitude of field trips and fund-raising parents, the New Explorations Into Science, Technology and Math school is widely admired as an oasis in the New York City school system, more like an elite private school than the public school it is.
posted by Whitney Tilson at 12:33 PM
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