Maureen Lane

New York’s Best Assets

This week David M. Herszenhorn of the New York Times reported, "The nonprofit group that forced New York City to promise to stop pushing failing students out of the public schools filed suit yesterday charging that Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn has continued to force students out, in violation of the law and the city's pledge." These are serious charges if true and a serious reality notwithstanding the courtroom battle.

A part of what is captured by the news of the suit is the story of the struggling students at Boys and Girls High and at many other high schools in New York City. Many low-income students are told they are not college material. At Welfare Rights Initiative (WRI), alums, current staff and students report such discouragement when they were in high school.

WRI sees the students at Boys and Girls High as New York's assets. These students may be helped to know that there are successful CUNY undergraduates who had their same challenges in high school.

WRI's Ana Cuaz and Jeanette Nazzaire recently wrote, "Some say that high school is the place where students are supposed to work their hardest, and that it is essentially where honor students are born. What many people tend to look past is the fact that in this world not everyone has the opportunity or support necessary to do extremely well during his or her high school years. High school can be very stressful and difficult for students for many different reasons including poverty. We know this from first-hand experience."

We at WRI have witnessed students coming from high school with less than perfect grades and, through hard work and determination, turn themselves around and rank at the top of their class. These students are often overlooked. We believe college is an opportunity for students to grow and develop.

WRI is working to bring poor and low-income students to college and connect them to the hope that earning a college degree can bring. As a city, let's work together and do better for New York's developing assets. This means not throwing them away.

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Posted at 1:04 PM, Oct 14, 2005 in Economy
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