Report finds a racial and income-based resource gap in NYC schools

CapitalNewYork 

Black, Latino and poor students in New York City public schools have fewer resources, particularly in science and arts, than their white and Asian peers, according to a report released Sunday by the Independent Budget Office.

While graduation rates have risen under the Bloomberg administration, major inequities persist along racial lines, the report found. 

The report was requested by the Alliance for Quality Education, an education research and advocacy group that is calling the current public school system "a tale of two systems," echoing Bill de Blasio's "tale of two cities" campaign slogan. 

The study found that black and Latino students have access to half the number of Advanced Placement classes as their white and Asian peers, according to data from 353 high schools in the 2011-2012 academic year. Data from charter and transfer schools was not included. 

The report also suggested that an essential component of education reform under Mayor Bloomberg—more, smaller schools—has created an odd sort of scarcity: larger high schools are more likely to include a library, medical office or gym, the report found. 

Minorities and poor students—a group the study defines as students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch—generally have fewer science, music and art classes and are less likely to have a library, medical office or gym compared to white and Asian students across the city. About half of Department of Education district high schools don't have art rooms.