Read It and Smile

A spot-on editorial in the NY Sun, highlighting the progress of NYC schools under Bloomberg and Klein -- yet how much more needs to be done.

These results don't include students in charter schools, which means the numbers don't account for children who are benefiting from the most important innovation championed by Messrs. Bloomberg and Klein. Nor are the latest data an excuse for the city to rest on its laurels. Despite the improvements, more than 40% of fourth graders and 60% of eighth graders still aren't meeting standards. And the fact that the city's public schools are improving doesn't mean today's students shouldn't have the option of going elsewhere with the help of a voucher if their particular schools or teachers are sub-par. But even with all those qualifications, these numbers are good news for city schools, and especially city students and parents, who for too long had too little to celebrate.

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Read It and Smile

New York Sun Staff Editorial
September 25, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/40285

Mayor Bloomberg's recent trip to Los Angeles may be attracting more attention for what it says about his presidential aspirations than for the message he delivered in respect of education reform, but no one can gainsay that education evangelization. Especially so since the day after he spoke at a school in Los Angeles, his schools chancellor back home released numbers showing that city students have again beat their peers elsewhere in the state on key English exams. Certainly the city's schools still have a long way to go. But there are encouraging signs in the latest numbers that the mayor and chancellor are on the right track.