There is no “West High” on the UWS, but frankly there should be. Image via eBay.
A group of Upper West Side parents is pushing Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to give students in District 3, which includes the UWS, more access to strong high schools. As it is now, the schools where local kids have priority admission are performing poorly, as compared to District 2, which is mostly on the East side. Cynthia Wachtell and Lyndie Callan are the organizers.
Their letter is below, and they’re urging Upper West Side parents to send it to the chancellor at cgfarina@schools.nyc.gov, as well as other elected officials. (A meeting Thursday at 6:30 at P.S. / I.S. 180 (370 W. 120th Street) will address the issue.
Dear Chancellor Fariña,Our children in D3 are uniquely disadvantaged in the high school process, and we want equity.
- Equity – The de Blasio administration is committed to equity, but the current high school priority system in Manhattan creates a system of “haves” and “have nots,” solely based on geographic location.
- D3 is Uniquely Disadvantaged – Students in our district have the lowest access to priority schools in Manhattan. D3 priority schools — all of which are performing below grade level — have only enough seats for 16% of 8th graders in D3 middle schools. By contrast D1, D2, D4, and D6 all have enough seats for at least 40% of their eight graders.
- D2 is Uniquely Advantaged – Five high performing and highly desirable priority schools — Lab, Baruch, Museum, School of the Future, and Eleanor Roosevelt — are all located in D2. At these schools, D2 preference has come to mean D2 exclusivity.
We are calling for the immediate elimination of the unjust school priority system in Manhattan. It is unfairly punishing students, simply based upon where they live.
Sincerely,A Concerned Public School Parent
The Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment. The local community education council is considering weighing in with a draft resolution here.
D2 and D3 should take a little field trip to D6 sometime. Tons of perspective there for all of them.
Thank you for covering this very important and timely topic ! This year’s students may not benefit from this dynamic duos efforts but next year’s kids should.
I don’t have kids, but I do live around dozens of K-5 kids now and was wondering about that. This week I commented to a friend that they will all be leaving the UWS when they have to go to high school because there are no good or safe high schools here. Not all of them can get into magnet or exam schools.
I wish the parents success only on the condition that the school does not become only an upper-middle-class+ school and that working-class and poor students from the neighborhood are welcomed too.
I don’t think this is quite accurate. I believe the issue (at least for the High School application process) is that D2 residents has priority for D2 schools. No other district’s residents has priority for their own district’s school. So D2 has as good a shot to get into D3 as D3 does with no preference for D3 residents.
As an UWS parent of one High School student and one eighth grader trying to get into a decent high school, I am outraged that District 2 has so many great priority schools which keeps its doors closed or semi-closed to the rest of the school districts. Why hasnt a letter to the NY Times editor been sent about this? Why hasnt this been exposed? ANd its amazing that the one good high school in the district 3 zone, Beacon High School, does NOT prioritize its community.Its outrageous!
It is my understanding that the East Side District 2 priority was a deal done years ago – late 1980s/early 1990s – when Anthony Alvarado was district superintendent. It was done to encourage East Side families to send their kids to public school rather than private school, to encourage families to stay in NYC.
Remember, the Upper West Side was not so conistently affluent in those days. And there has also been a massive amount of luxury development on the UWS, especially since about 1997.
BTW even around 1995, PS 199 had some empty seats (and the Center School?) and was accepting students out of district.
Up until 2006, 40% of PS87’s seats were filled by out-of-catchment children. In four years, they didn’t have enough seats to meet the needs of in-catchment only.
“Remember, the Upper West Side was not so conistently affluent in those days.”
I long for the days when this was the UWS that was known all around.
I stand with you and hope to influence my fellow CEC3 council members to do likewise. Let’s hope our voice is heard before the class of 2019 passes through this unfair system.
Yes, this is all true and not at all news. When I realized the disparity beginning in middle school, which only became drastically and dramatically worse in high school, we were faced with either selling and moving to East Side or moving away altogether. Unless your child gets into a specialized HS, UWS parents are totally screwed. And, if you don’t choose the high schools wisely, even a good student can end up WITHOUT PLACEMENT (unless you count a totally unacceptable school a “placement”). That has happened to several families with A students and decent test scores (but not good enough Specialized scores) and they were forced to leave the city entirely (Partly the fault of lousy guidance counselors at certain UWS middle schools as well – yes, you know who you are). Moving is not a possible choice for many people, and that makes it all the more unfair and utterly disgusting.
This needs to be addressed immediately. Our children do not deserve to be treated as second class citizens.
It is funny how UWS parents (specifically those zoned for 199, 87, 9) now think it is now unfair that other areas such as D2 have better valued public high school, but they could frankly care less about the kids who live outside these highly value elementary school zones and the lack of quality education options that they receive.