Tom Mccarthy’s August 28th article about Nassau’s North Shore schools performing “better” than the average comes as no surprise to those who know the educational landscape.
The fact is, there are no “good schools” or “better schools,” nor do the teachers in the “better performing” schools possess any special talent over their lower-performing peers. Educational performance is inextricably tied to the income of the parents. This has been an empirical fact for years,
Every year the state Department of Education ranks schools by SAT score. And every year, they correlate with almost surgical precision to the income data for the school district. Here are 2016’s results, just as an example.
1: Jericho School District—1855
2: Roslyn Public Schools—1820
3: Great Neck Public Schools—1776
4: Herricks Union Free School District—1767
5: Syosset Central School District—1766
6: East Williston Union Free School District—1759
7: Cold Spring Harbor Central School District—1714
8: Port Jefferson Union Free School District—1704
9: Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District—1700
10: Port Washington Union Free School District—1700
Here are the bottom ten:
80: Deer Park Union Free School District—1396
81: Lawrence Union Free School District—1381
82: South Country Central School District—1381
83: William Floyd School District—1375
84: Malverne Union Free School District—1340
85: Copiague Public Schools—1326
86: Brentwood Union Free School District—1307
87: Freeport Public Schools—1295
88: Amityville Union Free School District—1255
89: Central Islip Union Free School District—1245
90: Uniondale Union Free School District—1230
91: Westbury Public Schools—1208
92: Hempstead Union Free School District—1200
93: Roosevelt Union Free School District—1168
94: Wyandanch Union Free School District—1102
Year after year, the outcomes never change. We’re at the point where one can actually predict the SAT score of a student from a parents’ tax return.
This point cannot be stressed enough, especially in a community that has long deluded itself about the “superiority” of its local school system. They’re not “better.”
They merely reflect the hard fact that economic conditions for children affect their personal outcomes more than people have the courage to admit, so they simply refuse to acknowledge it.
Especially the teachers themselves. Why kill the Golden Goose? Best to keep the villagers in the dark, lest questions be asked about what they’re actually paying for.
Donald Davret
Roslyn
