State's new list of troubled schools paints bleak picture
Over one-third of city's public schools are failing students
Friday, November 11 2011, 2:35 AM
David Handschuh/New York Daily News
State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said the state’s new
list of troubled schools offers more proof of the city school system’s
dismal performance.
Over a third of the city’s public schools are failing their students,
according to new state standards that paint a much bleaker picture than
the one offered by the city.
The New York State Education Department added some 350 city schools on
Thursday to its annual bulletin of “schools in need of improvement” —
but 180 of those schools earned A’s or B’s on their latest progress
reports from the city.
State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said the state’s new
list of troubled schools offers more proof of the city school system’s
dismal performance.
“This is just further evidence – as if we needed any – that we must
move forward to reform our schools and change what is happening in our
classrooms,” said Tisch, adding: “If student performance doesn’t
improve, schools must be held accountable.”
Schools that turn up on the state’s hit list may be forced to offer
extra tutoring and allow students to transfer out. If they don’t
improve, they may eventually be shut down.
This year the state flagged 640 of about 1,700 city schools for poor
graduation rates and low scores on state exams, up from 321 last year.
City Department of Education officials said that 80% of the increase
was due to a higher bar for graduation rates and student performance on
state exams.
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said the state’s list also fails to
account for the progress of once-troubled schools that are now heading
in the right direction.
“We support strong accountability measures, but those that look at
absolute proficiency alone penalize schools that are making progress,”
said Walcott.
The new standards the state uses to identify struggling schools are
mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The state is applying
for an exemption from the federal standards, which measures student
proficiency, not progress.
City schools have taken a beating from state education officials this
week. Regents Chancellor Tisch slammed failing city high schools as
“warehouses” for unlucky students at a meeting with the editorial board
of the Daily News on Tuesday.
Mayor Bloomberg responded to Tisch’s comments the next day at a press
conference, blasting the state’s highest ranking education official as
“misinformed.”
bchapman@nydailynews.com
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