School Data from NRO
From National Review… December 2009
“The City University of New York was a great conduit for upward mobility through the early and middle decades of the 20th century, with a glittering list of alumni in law (Felix Frankfurter), science (Jonas Salk), the military (Colin Powell), and other fields of endeavor. Sad, then, to read that 90 percent of CUNY freshmen could not solve a simple algebra problem when tested in 2008. Even arithmetic baffled them: Two-thirds could not convert a fraction to a decimal. This is after years of news stories about improved test scores and graduation rates for city schools. The usual response from local politicians is that the school system needs more money. Odd: New York State, with the city well in line, spent $15,981 per public-school student in 2007. The U.S. average is $9,666–just three-fifths of the New York figure. The city is in any case flat broke, with the mayor demanding 8 percent budget cuts. What’s to be done? Ship students to Utah, perhaps. The Beehive State spent only $5,683 per student, yet math-test results are well-nigh identical with New York’s.”