‘Klein, Sharpton Ally on Achievement Gap’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
In an article in The New York Sun entitled, “Klein, Sharpton Ally on Achievement Gap,” Chancellor Joel Klein and the Reverend Al Sharpton bemoan the unacceptable gap between high school graduation rates of black and Hispanic students and white students [New York, “Klein, Sharpton Ally on Achievement Gap,” June 11, 2008].
Their venture, the Education Equality Project, proposes actions to improve the educational outcomes for minority students in this nation.
We applaud the motives of the Education Equality Project, but we already know of an education system that has closed the achievement gap — the Catholic School system.
In New York City, the inner-city Catholic schools are educating a population that is 89% non-white (and nearly 40% non-Catholic), and the graduation rates are far better than the national white student graduation rate of 78% cited in the article. Furthermore, 96% of those graduates go on to pursue post-secondary education.
At All Hallows High School, situated just across from Yankee Stadium in a low-income section of the Bronx, 100% of the senior class, composed almost entirely of black and Hispanic males, will graduate, and all but one will go on to college.
The school’s co-valedictorian, the first in his family to pursue college, will attend Harvard University in the fall with a full scholarship.
The Catholic school system has figured out a way to raise expectations for minority students, ensuring that they not only graduate from high school, but also leave with the skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond.
These schools have many lessons to share, and their survival should be paramount to any organization that sets educational excellence as a goal.
Providing more scholarship support and tax credits for tuition so more low-income students can attend these schools is how we will close the achievement gap in this country.
CAREN HOWLEY
Executive Director
The Endowment for Inner-City Education
New York, N.Y.
Editor’s note: This letter was also signed by Richard J. Schmeelk, chairman emeritus, CAI advisors, and a trustee of the Endowment for Inner-City Education.
