National Blue Ribbon Schools honor axed

One of the things that makes a community stand out is the quality of the local school district, especially on Long Island, a region renowned for excellence in public education — at great expense. When buying a house, people look at services, shops, safety — and schools.

The National Blue Ribbon School distinction is momentous. Just one-tenth of 1% of schools are recognized, and a maximum of 420 schools can be nominated each year. The designation carries heft from coast to coast.

So, it was disheartening when the federal Department of Education canceled the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program last month.

Instead, New York State announced this week it would recognize the four Long Island schools that would have gotten the honor — Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson, Garden City High School, Harborfields High School and Manhasset Secondary School — that were nominated. Good move by the state and congratulations to the designees.

In a letter explaining the abrupt federal decision, the Department of Education’s media office spun the decision as a positive for education. “Awards conceived by those closest to the communities and families served by local schools will do more to encourage meaningful reforms than a one-size-fits-all standard established by a distant bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.”

The letter, however, mentions nothing of what likely is the true reason behind nixing the program — President Donald Trump’s desire to dismantle federal programs that promote diversity.

One of the two categories schools were recognized in was “significant progress in closing achievement gaps among different groups of students.” The federal application also states that at least one-third of schools nominated must have “a high percentage of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

The Blue Ribbon Schools program may also have been cut because of dysfunction in the department. Programs, staff and grants have been eliminated only to be reinstated. The cancellation notice went out weeks before winners were to be announced. Trump said in February the Department of Education was a “big con job” and wanted it closed, and in July, the Supreme Court ruled Trump could move forward with laying off department staff.

However, states recognizing schools in place of the U.S. government misses the point. Federal recognition distinguishes which schools have excelled compared with the rest of the country. A federal program provides even greater scrutiny and recognition. It’s like the difference between being named All-State and All-American.

“No question, it’s a whole different perspective to be recognized from the national level that sets you apart,” Jericho Superintendent Robert Kravitz, who published a book about Blue Ribbon Schools, told the editorial board. The recognition motivates a school, and excellence among all staff and students “suddenly becomes the norm.”

Not every school deserves a ribbon. Those that do, however, should be applauded as exemplars. Cutting the Blue Ribbon Schools designation deprives communities like those four on Long Island of the hard-earned right to celebrate being the best of the best.