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May 15, 2014- By Steven E. Greer, MD
Let’s face it. We live in an oligarchy where the rich live by separate rules. For the most part, that is. America still allows for upward class mobility like no other country.
We interviewed the Principal of what might be the most impressive example of the American Dream in the United States. It is the specialty public school in Battery Park City called Stuyvesant High School. It is where the smartest New Yorkers go to high school.
The list of alumni includes Lucy Liu, Tim Robbins, Eric Holder, David Axelrod, four Nobel Laureates (Joshua Lederberg, Robert Fogel, Roald Hoffmann, and Richard Axel) and many more success stories.
In America, unlike the UK, India, or Russia, low-income immigrants can still study hard, got to Stuyvesant (instead of $40,000 private schools), then be accepted to Stanford, Duke, Harvard, etc. 100% of Stuyvesant students graduate and go to college.
I am hopeful that the criteria for acceptance at the specialized high schools – Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, and Bronx Science – will remain merit-based. My son has encountered more excited acclaim for attending Stuyvesant high school than for his alma-mater, Dartmouth College.
Great Interview!!!