For Immediate Release
Dec 21, 2007 3:55 PM
State education officials on Dec. 20 announced that one in three New York City public elementary and middle schools are in need of improvement by federal academic standings. The data pointed out discrepancies between state and city accountability measures, with 170 schools that received As and Bs from the city failing to make enough progress by state measures. UFT President Randi Weingarten on NYC Schools in Need of Improvement: “Accountability systems should be clear, fair, accurate and reliable, especially when they can result in schools being closed. But how can you have that when at least two schools – PS 79 in the Bronx and PS 183 in Brooklyn – that the state says are ‘in good standing’ receive grades of F from the city and are slated for closure? “This dissonance between the state and city school accountability systems is particularly troubling because more than half the schools that received an F under the city’s new grading system are in good standing with the federal government while more than a fifth of the schools that got an A from the city are considered failing by the feds. This should serve as a big red flag telling the city and the state that they need to align their accountability systems so that parents, educators and students can make well-informed decisions about their schools. “If we really want to help schools, we should revisit the idea of a Chancellor’s District as we did years ago, a concept former Chancellor Rudy Crew has imported to Dade County, Florida. Under that system, rather than give up on struggling schools, all stakeholders took responsibility and focused resources and best practices to help them improve.”