March 2004

New York's collection of top-shelf public high schools is impressive - in both its sheer number and wide scope.

In fact, 28 of the top 100 public high schools in the United States in 2003 are found in New York State, according to Newsweek magazine. And, in ranking the best 822 public high schools in the nation - representing the top 4 percent of all high schools - Newsweek included 125 from New York, more than any state except California. [8] In other words, some 15 percent of the very best public high schools in America were found in New York State in 2003.

Public schools on Long Island and in Westchester and Rockland counties appeared most often on Newsweek's list. Forty-five Long Island high schools and 32 from Westchester County met the magazine's definition of excellence - and ours.

But the list of America's best high schools also wound its way north and west, following the Thruway across the breadth of New York State.

Forty-two high schools in upstate New York ranked as among the best in the whole United States, along with six more in New York City. Suburban high schools in Albany, Erie, Monroe and Onondaga counties grabbed slots on this prestigious list. So did high schools in Broome, Niagara, Oneida, Otsego, Putnam, Schenectady and Tompkins counties. The Joseph C. Wilson Magnet School in Rochester and high schools in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan are among the superior urban high schools singled out for national recognition.

Newsweek contributing editor Jay Mathews, author of "Class Struggle: What's Wrong (and Right) with America's Best Public High Schools," based his rankings on a Challenge Index. The Index uses a formula that measures the number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests taken by students in relationship to the student body as a whole.

Mathews said New York places so many of its high schools on the list because it makes AP and IB courses - the only consistently high standard for rigor that crosses state lines - available to more average students.

"New York State, along with California, Illinois and the Maryland/Virginia suburbs of Washington, are the mother lode of challenging high schools," Mathews wrote in an e-mail to NYSUT. "New York educators were among the first to appreciate the benefits of both AP and IB, and have in many cases led the nation in opening up those courses to all students."

Mathews said the opportunity for students to stretch their minds is an essential purpose of education. He urged school districts to give even more students the opportunity to prepare for success in college by taking these challenging courses while in still in high school.

NEXT: 5. "Scientific Rigor: New York Dominates the 'Junior Nobels'"