Opinion

A tale of two school systems — and the obvious way out

New York’s public-school system is an ongoing horror — one that traps hundreds of thousands of kids in schools that don’t work, “tracked” into dead-end “promotions” to equally bad schools that lead to worthless diplomas and limited economic opportunities for the rest of their lives.

The waste is compounded by an administration that refuses to give parents the keys to more alternatives to the status quo.

A study released last week by Families for Excellent Schools shows how city children, from an early age, are sorted into two vastly different public-school systems.

It’s, yes, a “tale of two cities” — but one Mayor de Blasio fully enables.

In one New York of mostly white and Asian families, 116,000 students attend the top 141 primary schools, which leaves them set to move on to the top middle and high schools.

In the other New York of 850 schools, 478,000 students — more than 90 percent of color and poor — wind up in underachieving schools all the way from kindergarten through high school.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way. As recent state test scores show, charter schools can take the highest-need black and Hispanic students and put them firmly on track to excellence.

Parents know this and are seeking out charters in increasing numbers. This coming school year, charters will educate 95,000 city students — 25,000 more than last year.

Sadly, even with new charters opening and older ones expanding, that leaves nearly 43,000 kids on waiting lists.

The same hunger is visible in Newark, whose universal enrollment plan gives parents the opportunity to enroll their kids in charter or traditional schools. That is, they’re not forced into the nearest neighborhood school.

The result, as The Wall Street Journal reports: Just 25 percent of parents opt for that neighborhood school for kids entering kindergarten. And demand for charter seats far outpaces the supply, just as in New York.

At a minimum, a true progressive should be looking to give kids more options to escape schools that put them on track for failure. But the de Blasio administration continues its cold war against charters.

As The Post reported last week, the city has refused some 40 charter requests to make use of excess space in existing school buildings. That intransigence left the state Education Department no choice but to order the city to make other space available or pay the charters’ rent.

This city — this country — has gone on long enough failing less-fortunate children. A few bold reformers have produced at least a partial solution.

They deserve the support of anyone who’s serious about fighting inequality.