1/25/2011: College & Careers, Not More Cuts

Shirley L. Huntley

January 24, 2011

AQE Releases Report, Unequal Opportunity Equals Unequal Results

Albany—The Alliance for Quality Education issued a report today titled Unequal Opportunity Equals Unequal Results. During his campaign for governor Andrew Cuomo asserted that, “There are two education systems in this state. Not public-private. One for the rich and one for the poor and they are both public systems.” Based on the findings of the report AQE warned that large cuts to education in next week’s Executive Budget would increase educational inequity and would hurt students living in poverty and students of color the most.

• The higher wealth districts (classified as Low Need Schools) spend $1,712 more per pupil than the state’s neediest schools—the Schools in Need of Improvement (SINI). This difference amounts to a $788 million funding gap between these schools.

• Less than 57% of students in SINI schools graduate on time, as opposed to more than 92% in Low Needs schools. In SINI schools 21% of graduates receive an Advanced Regents Diploma, an indication of college readiness, compared with 61% in Low Need Schools.

• In SINI schools 68% of students live in poverty compared with 6% in Low Needs Schools, 69% of students in SINI schools are African American and Hispanic compared to 9.73% in Low Needs schools.

• According to a new national study by Education Week, New York State schools are “a perennial top-ranking state,” ranking 8th out of 50 states in K-12 achievement and 2nd in overall policy and performance.

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