For Immediate Release

Weingarten on New York City winning the 2007 Broad Prize

Sep 19, 2007 6:05 PM

On Sept. 18, 2007, New York City won the Broad Prize, which is given each year to an urban school district that has made great improvements in student achievement, particularly in closing gaps between white and minority students.

UFT President Randi Weingarten's statement:

Teachers should be proud of the integral role they played in helping the City win this honor because, at the end of the day, the system’s success depends on what takes place in the classroom between teachers and their students. Together with the results of the NYC Department of Education’s recent Learning Environment Survey -- which found that 90 percent of parents approve of their child’s teacher – this prize reaffirms what we consider to be an indisputable truth: New York has a truly remarkable teaching force. Now we must build on this by strengthening the principal-teacher-parent partnership that is necessary for our students’ continued academic achievement.

It is a great day for New York, and I congratulate the Mayor and the Chancellor and all of our fantastic educators on this success. Despite our differences about how best to serve our 1.1 million students, the mayor and governor and the City Council and State Legislature deserve credit for providing us with the resources to fortify a system that had been destabilized by neglect.