Editorials

Congratulations!

Oct 4, 2007 3:08 PM

We congratulate you — the New York City public school educators — on recently winning the Broad Prize for Urban Education.

Yes, we know that technically the prize went to the Department of Education. It will receive lots of prestige along with $500,000 in college scholarship money. But we know — and we think most parents know — who was really responsible for the honor to our school system.

Even the founder of the foundation that presented the award, Eli Broad (rhymes with road), noted that along with the mayor and chancellor “a progressive teachers union” enabled the improvements in student achievement that led to the award.

President Weingarten said that “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.”

The prize is awarded for overall academic performance and improvement and the prize committee found that city schools outperformed other districts in the state with similar income levels in reading and math at all levels. It is also based on the overall performance and improvement of subgroups, including low-income, African-American and Hispanic students.

A key element in winning the award was the city’s closing of the achievement gaps in reading and math between African-American and Hispanic students and the state average for white students. Specifically, it noted that more African-American and Hispanic students achieved high levels on standardized tests.

While we still have marked differences with the mayor and the DOE about curriculum, class size, respect for our members, testing and, in particular, the way students are prepared for the tests that led to this award, we realize that the award is a distinct honor for New York City’s school system. We just want to make sure that those who are responsible for it are acknowledged.

Congratulations to you!