NYC’s education chiefs just don’t care about teaching kids to read

New York City public schools have fallen completely back to the discredited practice of “social promotion” — moving students on the next grade no matter what — even as the evidence grows that it’s a terrible mistake.

Last year, Department of Education schools held back just 0.4% of students in grades 3 through 8 — though 40% failed to meet proficiency standards on state tests, and 3% didn’t meet the most minimal requirements for promotion.

The number of students held back has plummeted since 2014, when Mayor Bill de Blasio started letting schools rely on “holistic” measures instead of standardized test scores. 

About the same time, Mississippi started taking the exact opposite approach — part of a huge success.

In 2013, the state passed the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which ended social promotion and required third graders to show reading proficiency before advancing to fourth grade.

Schools notify families when a child is at risk of being held back and create a reading plan to help them catch up. 

The results speak for themselves: Today, Mississippi fourth graders read nearly a full school year ahead of their NYC peers, though the city spends three times as much per pupil; the Magnolia State now leads the nation in teaching black kids to read.

Mississippi also pays for every elementary teacher to complete a two-year course in evidence-based reading instruction; New York’s effort to move in that direction proved a complete debacle as the state teachers union instead pushed the discredited “balanced literacy” approach.

Bottom line: The folks running education policy in New York refuse to take the obvious steps to ensure our kids learn to read.