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NYC School Takeover Inspires Fenty, but Critics Abound
At Bronx Lab School, one of six small schools sharing a building in New York, Kari Ostrem helps Christopher Rodriguez with a Chinese lesson.
(Helayne Seidman -- TWP)
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To that end, Bronx Lab School sends students on a week-long camping trip, offers twice-a-week internships with private companies, and integrates math and science to promote practical applications of the curricula.
Sternberg has told Klein that he intends to graduate 90 percent of his students. He had better deliver: About 330 principals have been granted more autonomy this year by Klein in exchange for promising to meet rigorous performance goals. If they fail, they risk losing their jobs.
"Bring it on," Sternberg said. "If I'm not prepared to meet expectations the city has for me, I shouldn't be doing the job."
This accountability is the point, Bloomberg said, changing a culture of patronage.
But education historian Diane Ravitch, who has studied New York's system for years, noted that the vast majority of students remain on campuses that are growing ever more crowded as the new small schools get dibs on coveted classroom space.
"Most large schools are in far worse shape," she said. "Everybody is looking for the magic thing, but the problems don't change: lots of kids in poverty, no support structure at home."
Four years into the transformation, the Bloomberg administration has hailed gains on standardized tests, particularly for third- and fifth-graders. But others point to stagnant results in other categories, such as high school graduation and attendance rates and eighth-grade achievement.
Bloomberg scoffs at the notion that the public is unhappy, pointing to his reelection last year:
"The public wants a mayor who stands up and says, 'This is what I believe and this is why I believe it. I was elected the mayor, and this is what we're going to do. See me in four years, and if you don't like it, throw me out.' "
