Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered his State of the City address recently and included some unexpected changes for New York City schools that could profoundly change how they currently operate. Although the pre-speech statement noted that his speech would focus on tax cuts, many were surprised by what could be called his second reorganization of New York City schools.
The announcement was followed by a public relations campaign staged with press conferences, and New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein spoke to business leaders the next day. Here are the main points of the mayor’s announcement:
o New York City schools would remain public and under the control of the Department of Education. The department will continue to be responsible for setting educational standards, allocating funds to New York City schools, and hiring/firing principals for New York City schools.
o Principals will be empowered to control key issues within their New York City schools. They will have more autonomy, starting with the next school year, managing their individual budgets and staff, as well as determining the best teaching approach for their individual New York City schools. Principals are expected to partner with a supporting organization.
Along with empowerment and more autonomy comes greater responsibility. A number of measures will be employed to ensure principals are successful in their New York City schools. Student grades will be accessible to parents, one of the most effective forms of accountability. Principals of New York City schools that perform well will enjoy additional funding for their schools.
Mayor Bloomberg sees this empowerment and accountability movement as a long-standing business success tool: Succeed or lose your job. Others worry that he may be losing sight of the learning and teaching aspect of education.
o Associations of support organizations will be established for each of the New York City schools. Each support organization comes from a private group, such as non-profit agencies and colleges/universities. The support organization will provide professional development support to the principal, teachers, and principal’s staff. It will help interpret test scores and other statistics, as well as identify useful teaching approaches for individual New York City schools.
o Four years ago, when the mayor took control of New York City schools, he created ten regions. Now that they have served their purpose and completed their work, they are being eliminated. The mayor did not address, however, which group or agency would be responsible for running high schools and middle school admissions, previously run by regions.
o Chancellor Klein has long criticized New York City schools’ tenure policy of three years on the job and one teacher qualifies for tenure, making it harder to fire ineffective teachers. Under the mayor’s new proposal, tenure standards will be more difficult but not impossible to achieve. He intends to work with the United Federation of Teachers (the New York City school teachers’ union), whose consent is required for any major changes in tenure policy. The mayor aims to use the tenure to improve teacher quality with salary increases, develop a program for “teacher leaders” with experience mentoring others, and a housing bonus for teachers with experience in teaching shortage fields.
o Finally, the mayor is considering changing the funding formula for New York City schools. He wants to fund every child instead of every New York City school, as he believes the current policy is grossly complex and unfair. Each of New York City’s schools would receive $3,000 to $3,750 per child with additional funding for children at poverty levels, non-English speaking, special education, and/or low-achieving children. Additional funds may be available for gifted and talented children.
Comments and discussions have already begun from parents, special interest groups, and advisory councils/committees. It’s hard to see how all of the mayor’s changes will directly benefit students in New York City schools. Parents have a vested interest in seeing smaller classes and preventing their children from dropping out of school, none of which was mentioned in the mayor’s announcement.
