This NYC public high school just sent 98 percent of graduates to college

ByEditorial

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Knowledge is power, indeed: A full 98 percent of this year’s graduates from KIPP NYC College Prep are headed to college in the fall.

This is a public high school that has no competitive entry exam; 90 percent of the kids qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Just over 20 percent identify as special ed; 8.2 percent are English Language Learners.

It’s another sign of why every New Yorker should support charter schools.

KIPP began in 1994 in Houston; the next year, it opened its first New York middle school in the South Bronx. Its 11 city campuses now serve 4,600 New Yorkers, 97 percent of them African-American or Latino.

College Prep opened in 2009. All kids enter via random lottery, though KIPP middle-school grads enjoy a preference.

KIPP College Prep offers a comprehensive after-school program (mandatory for 9th- and 10th-graders), with tutoring as well as sports and debate. It also offers Advanced Placement summer boot camps.

Every KIPP school offers a strong curriculum, longer school days and year, rich extracurriculars and dedicated staff.

Not every school should be just like KIPP — a graduate of a good vocational school faces his or her own bright future. But every school can aim to graduate students of character and with the skills for success.

The formula for excellence is no mystery. KIPP and other charters are leading the way. The city should at least embrace every plan to open another such first-rate school.

But Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña don’t see it that way: They block charters every chance they get.

Every year, KIPP and other top charters show what’s possible. It’s long past time for the naysayers to get out of the way.